Short Stories About Shules and Parenthood
by SnydersOfHanover
Summary: It's exactly what it sounds like. A collection of stories about Shawn and Juliet becoming parents. Various genres and set in different universes or different stages of their relationship: COMPLICATED SECRETS: Complete, SAN FRANCISCO: In Progress, LUKE JONES: In Progress.
1. Complicated Secrets, Part 1

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

* * *

**Ok, so I absolutely love writing about Shules becoming parents. When I was writing my "Better than Pugs" series I had so many ideas for how it could go and wrote several of them down. But ultimately, I had to choose just one. Well now I've decided to take the ones I've written, and maybe some ideas I haven't yet written, and mold them into short stories. So this book is dedicated to short stories surrounding Shawn and Juliet having babies. They'll be set in different universes and at different points in their relationship. There may be some drama here and there, but I'm a big fan of happy endings, so nothing too sad…probably not. Even through the most depressing period of my life, I haven't been able to write a sad story, and I hope that never changes.**

* * *

**So, this is one I wrote a while ago but never posted. It's mostly written except for the ending. It's also kind of long, so I'll be posting it in parts. The first part, as it is, is longer than any chapter I've posted!**

**This is set in season five, shortly after Shawn and Juliet started dating and before anyone (aside from Gus) knew about their relationship. It also occurs at a time when Juliet still believes that Shawn is a psychic. I find it interesting how their reactions to shocking news early in their relationship would be so much different than when their relationship has progressed to marriage. In case you haven't guessed, this story is much more angsty than the previous one.**

* * *

Juliet sat against the headboard of her queen bed hugging her knees to her chest and quietly sobbing yet again. She had been doing this a lot since about a week before. She asked herself again and again how this could be happening. Of course, she knew _how_, in the sense that she knew the physical act that had put her and Shawn in this predicament. But what she really couldn't figure out was how she had been so irresponsible and careless to let this happen. She was a mature, responsible adult. This kind of thing wasn't supposed to happen to her.

Shawn and Juliet had been dating several weeks now, and with the exception of Gus and Henry they had successfully kept their relationship under wraps at the station. No one seemed to suspect that anything had changed between them. No one seemed to know that they spent most evenings and weekends in each other's company, or that they were at the point of spending the night at each other's places almost every night…or at least up until a week ago.

Juliet had been avoiding him, making up lame excuses for why she couldn't join him for dinner or why he couldn't spend the night. She hadn't been calling him to help with cases. She knew he was getting worried. She knew that turning him down and ignoring him was hurting him. But she just couldn't look at him anymore without thinking about it, and she wasn't ready to tell him yet. Even more so, she didn't think he was ready to hear it.

* * *

ONE WEEK EARLIER

It was one of those days where nothing goes right. She slept through her alarm, burnt her toast, and spilled coffee on her blouse. When she finally arrived late to work, she realized she left her current case file at home and had to return to get it. To top it all off, her stomach was doing backflips all morning which she was certain had to do with the undercooked chicken she had been served the night before when she was out with Shawn.

"Buck up, O'Hara," said Lassiter. "Everybody has bad days, but you're a cop. Crime doesn't stop just because you're having a bad day. You have work to do."

"Thanks, Carlton," she said sarcastically. "I appreciate your sympathy."

"You're welcome," said Lassiter sincerely. "Now let's get on the road. We have a new case to get started on."

Juliet grabbed her things and followed Lassiter to his vehicle. "Carlton, do you think we can stop at Starbucks on the way. I'm starving," she asked while walking to the car.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," he said. "I guess I could use a cup of Joe."

Juliet was relieved Carlton didn't put up a fight. Having lost most of her coffee on her shirt and not being able to eat her charred toast, she had nothing in her stomach, and now that it had stopped churning she was ravenously hungry. As soon as she returned to the car with a blueberry muffin in her hand, she gobbled it down frantically. Carlton looked on in astonishment as she did so.

"Wow, you _were _really hungry," he stated.

"No shit, Carlton! That's what I said," Juliet snapped.

Lassiter was taken aback and slightly angered with her attitude. "What's up with you, O'Hara!" he demanded.

"I'm just in a bad mood today," Juliet grumbled.

"More like every day," argued Carlton.

"What are you talking about?" said Juliet offended. "I'm almost always in a good mood!"

"Not lately! You've been snapping at me left and right for at least the past several days."

"No I haven't…," Juliet said. She didn't recollect being in a snippy mood at all over the past several days…but maybe she just hadn't noticed. After Carlton pointed out a number of examples, she had to admit she must have been quite an annoyance recently. She didn't know how she hadn't noticed.

"So what is it?" Carlton asked with a caring tone. "Do you have a cramp in your neck?"

"No."

"Did you forget to take your Prozac?"

"I don't take medications, Carlton."

"Did you have a bad date?"

"Um…no." She swallowed nervously like she did every time the subject of her dating habits came up. She didn't want to accidentally mention Shawn.

"Is it…you know…that time of the month?"

"No! Carlton, please stop talking," Juliet begged. "I don't need your help. _Leave it to Carlton to ask an awkward question about my period,_" she thought. "_Maybe he's not far off though…." _Juliet lost herself in her thoughts whileCarlton changed the subject to the case at hand. He told her that it was the scene of a potential homicide. A middle-aged gentleman had been found dead and bloodied at his apartment.

"So, when we get there, pay attention to…" Carlton was interrupted by his partner

"Carlton, what day is it?"

"It's Thursday."

"No, I mean what's the date."

"The 24th. Why?"

"Um…no reason." Juliet felt dizzy and her stomach started to swirl again.

* * *

They finally arrived at the scene. Unexpectedly, though it should have been expected, Shawn and Gus were already there. Shawn was already standing in front of the apartment building with a hand to his head and a vision causing him to scramble towards the front door, despite a number of officers pulling him back, and an apologetic Gus. Normally Juliet would have found his behavior amusing, but right now it just seemed annoying. She wasn't in the mood to face him right now. She wished he would mind his own business, just for once.

"Dammit, Spencer! Stop your ridiculous antics before I have to put an end to it myself! Shouted Carlton.

Shawn ignored him, but knowing that Carlton Lassiter's presence indicated that his girlfriend had also just arrived, he stopped mid-vision to smile at her and say "Hello Jules."

Juliet, who normally would discreetly return the hello and smile, looked in every direction but at Shawn. Shawn looked noticeably surprised and disappointed at her reaction, but she couldn't have anyone revealing their secret right now. Her gaze flittered to Carlton to see if he noticed their awkward exchange. He didn't seem to be paying attention to them at the moment, but Gus was and his expression was puzzled. Both she and Carlton brushed past the psychic, his side-kick, and the crowd of officers toward the second floor apartment. Without permission, Shawn and Gus followed.

The scene was horrific. The victim clearly had been stabbed in the stomach and was lying in a pool of blood. Juliet felt her recently eaten muffin rising up her esophagus. She raised her hand to her mouth and gagged before excusing herself from the apartment. Shawn, whose eyes hadn't left his girlfriend since their uncharacteristic exchange, followed her. She leaned against the wall and put her head down to try to ease the nausea.

"Jules, you ok?" Shawn asked sympathetically and carefully since Juliet had been acting like he was guilty of something that he couldn't remember. "I…I…I've never seen you leave a crime scene like that before."

Juliet continued to look at the floor, afraid to look into Shawn's eyes as if he would somehow psychically sense what she thought was going on with herself right now…and she didn't want him to know…at least not yet. "Shawn. I'll be fine. Just go back in there."

"Jules, you don't look fine. I just want to help," he said.

"I'll be fine, just _please_ go away," she begged. "I'll be back in there in a few minutes."

Shawn looked a bit hurt before he pressed on. "Juliet, I don't understand….It…It's my job to…"

"Just go!" she shouted. She looked up briefly, just long enough to see the hurt in his eyes. She tried to fix the situation by adding, "…before Lassiter gets suspicious," but Shawn's expression didn't budge. He nodded sadly and went back inside.

* * *

By the time they got back to the station later that afternoon, Juliet was feeling better but she was still avoiding Shawn. Shawn and Gus wandered to Juliet's desk, and Juliet startled at the sight of them. It made her want to get up and run. Instead she stopped what she was writing in her case-file and just stared at Shawn, mouth hanging open, suddenly seeing him in a different light. If her suspicions were correct, their fun and fresh relationship was going to be in for a major overhaul. Like it or not, the "Shawn and Juliet" that she knew would be over. Their relationship was going to change, and she didn't know if it would be for better or for worse.

"Jules?" Shawn asked. He was confused as to why she had stopped and was just staring at him. He looked himself over and felt his hair. "Did I spill barbecue sauce on my shirt? Is my hair out of place? Gus, do I have spinach in my teeth?!" he exclaimed while turning to his friend, pulling his mouth open with his fingers to show his teeth, and bringing his head closer to Gus.

Gus backed away. "You didn't even eat spinach today, Shawn!" he said.

"Shawn, you look fine. I'm sorry. I just…didn't expect you here," said Juliet trying to cover the nerves in her voice.

"Just 'fine'?" he asked. "And since when do you NOT expect me to visit you at your desk? I'm here all the time."

"Unfortunately," added Lassiter who was just making his way towards them.

"I'm sorry, Shawn. You look…great," she said with a soft smile, trying to find an innocuous enough word that wouldn't make Carlton suspicious of their relationship. She was trying to figure out a believable excuse for Shawn's second question, when Lassiter attempted an answer for her.

"O'Hara had a bad day and isn't feeling well, so I suspect she just wasn't prepared to see your ugly mug right now."

Shawn looked confusedly at the coffee mug he was holding in his hands. "This one? It's not so ugly." He held it next to his face and imitated the smile of the sweet teddy bear in a cop's hat that was printed in the side. "It's kind of cute actually."

Lassiter grunted in annoyance and walked away.

"You're not feeling well?" Shawn said softly and followed it up with a pout of his lower lip. Gus imitated the pout.

"I'm fine now, Shawn. I had an upset stomach, but it was probably just something I ate," she lied. "You don't have to worry."

"You sure?" he asked gently and she nodded. Juliet got to absent-mindedly rearranging some papers on her desk and avoided Shawn's gaze. He noticed her anxious behavior. Heck, it was so obvious, Gus even noticed it, and suddenly aware that his friend needed a private moment with her, mumbled that he was going to get a snack from the vending machines and slunk away.

Shawn moved closer so he could whisper and put a gentle hand on his girlfriend's back. "Are you absolutely sure everything is ok, sweetheart?"

"Yes, Shawn. I said I'm fine," Juliet responded more harshly than she intended and tensed under his touch. She felt guilty for thinking it, but she really just hoped he would go away for the moment.

Shawn pulled away, unsettled over her odd behavior. She had never really spoken to him that way before today, and now she had done it twice. He hesitated first and then asked, "Do…do you want to grab some lunch with me and Gus?"

"Uh…no. Not today," she mumbled without looking him straight in the eye.

"Ok, well…can I pick anything up for you?" he asked carefully

"Shawn, no! Can you please just leave me alone?" said Juliet without looking away from her work. She thought she saw some hurt in his face from a sideways glance though. "I just have a lot of work to do today. We can go tomorrow," she said. She gave him one of their secret hand squeezes from behind her desk that they always shared when they parted at the station in hopes that it would assure him that they were fine. However, he walked away more silently than usual and maybe even sadly, and Juliet sighed heavily.

As soon as he was out of sight, she checked her watch. She had thirty minutes until her meeting with the Chief. She scooped up her purse and headed out the other side of the station and towards the convenience store on the corner. She just had to be sure before she could face anyone or anything else.

* * *

Twenty minutes later she stood at the counter in the woman's restroom. Everything around her was blurry except for the tiny red plus-sign on the pregnancy test she held in her hand. "_This isn't happening_," she thought. "_I am going to wake up now and it will all be a dream._" She closed her eyes tight and opened them again to find it wasn't a dream. She was still staring at herself in the bathroom mirror with a positive pregnancy test in her hand. Her head tilted back and her eyes looked at the ceiling while she desperately tried to hold in the sobs that were building inside her.

"What have I gotten myself into?" she whispered to herself. She loved Shawn, but their relationship was still new. It wasn't ready for this kind of complication. They had never even discussed their long term future, let alone whether they wanted to have children together. She wasn't sure if Shawn was even father material or if he even wanted to be one. Hell, she hadn't even decided whether she wanted to be a mother…. "_A mother?_" She looked at her reflection in the eyes and whispered, "Juliet O'Hara. You are going to be a mom."

Suddenly the restroom door swung open and Juliet had been caught red-faced and with tear-filled eyes. She frantically tried to hide the pregnancy test behind her back, but it was too late. Chief Vick was standing in the doorway, her mouth agape.

"O'Hara?" she questioned, approaching her subordinate and peeking at the white stick behind her back. "Is that a…?"

Juliet nodded while letting a small sob escape.

"Positive?" Karen guessed from the panic on Juliet's face.

Juliet nodded again and put her hand to her mouth while her shoulders shook with muffled sobs. Instinctually Karen wrapped her arms around Juliet in a tight hug. "Oh sweetie, everything is going to be fine. It's going to be ok."

* * *

As soon as her sobs had diminished, Karen instructed Juliet to come to her office. Juliet took a seat and put her teary face in her hands while Karen closed all of the blinds to give them some privacy.

"Oh God! You probably think I am the most irresponsible person in this station right now," Juliet cried.

"I have to admit," said Karen taking her seat, "that this is not a common issue that a Chief of Police has to deal with. However, I suspect that has more to do with the fact that 90% of police officers are male and less with how responsible you are. O'Hara, you know that this happens to a lot of women."

"Yeah. I just didn't think that it would happen to me."

"Juliet, I don't know your situation and frankly, as your boss, it's none of my business. But, I didn't bring you to my office just now as your boss. I brought you here because you are obviously in distress and I know you could use a frien….fellow woman right now. You don't have to tell me anything, but I'm here if you want to talk."

"Thanks Chief," said Juliet. "I guess I'm just still kind of in shock right now. My head is just swimming with everything from what is going to happen to my body over the next nine months, to how I am going to raise a child with….my job, and how I am going to tell Sh…the father -." She nearly revealed the inter-office relationship that she had been keeping from the Chief and felt the need to stifle herself.

"I understand. At the very least I can tell you that you don't have to worry about your job. Of course you will have to take a leave from field work during your pregnancy – that is, if you are _keeping _it?" corrected Karen, not wanting to assume anything. Juliet nodded to confirm. There was no question for her. No matter what, she would keep her child. "…Your position will be here when you get back," Karen continued. "As for everything else…first, remember that I've been through this before. I'm always here for whatever questions you have. And second…I don't know anything about the father, but I'm guessing from your reaction that you have some qualms about him. Just know that you will not be doing this all on your own." Juliet nodded in understanding. "Um…Juliet, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to but…woman to woman, I wondered if I could ask. Who is the father?"

"Oh God!" Juliet bellowed and Karen repeated that she should feel no obligation to answer the question. "No. It's ok," said Juliet. "Just…promise not to get mad."

"Mad? Why would I -?"

"Promise?"

"I promise," Vick said hesitantly, unsure of what she was really promising.

Juliet took a deep breath. "The father is…Shawn." She looked shamefully at her feet

Karen sat stone still with a disbelieving look then stuttered, "Shawn? ...As in, Shawn_ Spencer, _Shawn?"

Juliet nodded and shrugged awkwardly.

"As in…our own _Psychic Detective_ Shawn Spencer?" Karen asked for further confirmation.

Juliet nodded again. "Yes. Please don't be mad Chief! We've been dating a little over two months now. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. We just…"

Karen put up her hand to stop Juliet's rambling. "It's ok." Juliet was both relieved and surprised with Karen's response. "It's fine, O'Hara…I mean, obviously this complicates things…and there's that pesky inter-office dating policy to worry about…but I promise you everything will work out." The Chief paused and contemplated what was in store for the future of the SBPD…and the world in general. She wasn't sure whether to be pleased or worried… "Another Spencer? Yikes."

* * *

"Gus…? Did Jules seem _off _to you at all?" Shawn asked his friend as they were returning to the bullpen for the de-briefing.

"Now that you mention it, she did seem a litter snippier than usual, but why are you asking me? You know her much better than I do," Gus answered.

"Yeah, but I've never seen her like _this _before. Do you think she's mad at me for something? What do you think I did?"

Gus forced himself to refrain from saying any of Shawn's many recent shenanigans that might have made Juliet upset. "I don't know. Maybe you didn't do anything. Maybe she's just on her period right now."

"Nooo." Shawn shook his head. "When she's on her period she whistles _The Backstreet Boys _and adds some _Milky Ways_ to her chocolate stash. Plus, we did it last night, so I think I would have noticed."

Gus cringed. Shawn was often too willing to overshare when it came to his and Juliet's sex life, and he didn't want to risk hearing any more. "Ok. Whatever Shawn. I'm sure if you just give her some space, she'll cool off," he said.

They entered the bullpen to see the bulletin board as usual filled with information and crime scene photos. Officers were gathering around and pulling up chairs. Shawn leaned on a post in the back of the crowd and Gus stood next to him, crossing his arms across his chest. In the front Juliet handed a laser pointer to Carlton.

"What? You're not going to fight with me over doing the de-briefing?" he whispered to her.

"No. I'm not in the mood today. You do it," she answered. She stepped to the side as Carlton tested out the laser, coughed, and got ready for his speech. Juliet noticed Shawn staring at her and momentarily caught his eyes before immediately shifting her attention to straightening her pant suit.

Detective Lassiter began the de-briefing, using the photos on the board to point out how the crime scene had been found and the circumstances surrounding Mr. Youngton's life in the days before his death. "The leading theory at this point is that Mr. Youngton stabbed himself, effectively committing suicide," he said.

Shawn scoffed, knowing that the suicide theory was crap.

"…the argument being," continued Lassiter, "that he had just recently lost custody of his children to his ex-wife -" Shawn scoffed and chuckled. "Did you have something to say, Mr. Spencer?!" Lassiter grunted. Juliet sighed and rolled her eyes.

"It's just…That can't be right. Youngton wouldn't kill himself over losing his kids," Shawn stated as if it should be totally obvious. He remembered seeing the man's apartment, completely devoid of photos of his children. There was no sign he even had children, in fact, aside from a crude drawing and a crayon- addressed envelope to "Daddy" that was resting in his trash. "The guy didn't even like his kids." Eyes blinked around him, clearly unaware of how he knew this. As usual, Shawn filled the silence. "And for good reason. Kids are noisy, and sticky. They cry, and puke, and pee in their beds, and almost always get to use the restroom first when there's only one restroom and everyone has to go-"

"Ok. We get it!" interrupted Lassiter. Juliet swallowed hard. _Did Shawn really hate children? _"If you had just waited I would have finished explaining that _I _believe that Mr. Youngton did not commit suicide. He was killed. Lassiter went on to explain a sketchy encounter Youngton shared with a trampy looking woman that a neighbor had witnessed, and claimed that Youngton had likely been killed by this mysterious woman.

By the end of the de-briefing they had decided on a course of action and Lassiter had entrusted to Juliet the task of finding out who the woman was and anything about her that might suggest she had motive to murder Mr. Youngton. "Sure thing," she said quickly before trying to duck away unseen by Shawn while the crowd of officers were moving about enough to conceal her efforts. It was to no avail, though. She had hardly taken a few steps before he appeared in front of her as if by magic. She slumped her shoulders and shook her head in exasperation. "Shawn, do you even know what the phrase 'leave me alone' means?" she said smartly.

"I…I was just worried about you," he said.

Juliet sighed. She didn't like that she was being rude to him. He hadn't even done anything to her. Well…not really. She thought of pulling him aside and telling him, but the thought of how he would react stopped her. "Shawn, do you really feel that way about children?" she asked as innocently as she could. She prayed that he would say no, that he had only been rambling earlier.

"I…well…not exactly," he began pulling at the back of his hair nervously. "But you gotta admit, kids are kind of…dirty…and loud," he chuckled.

Juliet stared at him lividly. "Really? Well you're one to talk!" she said angrily. She started to storm away, desperate to get his face out of her sight.

"Jules, what do you mean by that?!" He was taken aback by her sudden outrage. "What is going on with you today? Please just talk to me," he said while catching up to her, turning her around and grabbing her by both arms.

She wrestled free of his grasp. "You tell me, _psychic_!" She didn't say anything else but stormed to her desk, grabbed her things, and left the station.

Gus, who had been hiding behind a post, slunk out and looked apprehensively at Shawn. He had apparently seen everything.

"What was that?" Shawn asked Gus, who shrugged. "Oh my god! Do you think she…_knows_?" Shawn realized.

"Knows what?" asked Gus.

"Jesus Christ, Gus! Keep up! Do you think she knows…_my secret_?" he whispered so that no-one else in the station could hear.

"Oooh," said Gus. "That would be bad."


	2. Complicated Secrets, Part 2

PRESENT DAY

"I think she knows, Gus," said Shawn at the Psych Office where they were free of prying ears. "I think she knows I'm not a psychic. Or at least, she suspects it. Why else would she be avoiding me and ignoring me? And you heard her last week…the way she said _'psychic'_ all mocking-like. She's waiting for me to tell her. I think it's time that I tell her."

"That's a big step, man," said Gus. "But, to be honest, it needs to happen sooner rather than later. The longer you wait to tell her the angrier she will be when she finds out."

"Maaannn, I know you know you're right." Shawn picked up the squishy frog from his desk and gave a few firm anxiety-relieving squeezes. "Gus, what if it's already too late? What if I tell her, and then she breaks up with me? Maybe she's been planning to break up with me all along and she's just dragging this out so I can feel the agony of not knowing."

"Hey now. Don't jump to conclusions," said Gus. "You can't know until you talk to her. And I can't tell you enough that you _need _to talk to her. Even if she hasn't guessed your secret, she is clearly going through something."

"But she _won't _talk to me!" Shawn argued.

"Then you have to try again. You have to get her to talk to you. You are her boyfriend. She's your girlfriend. You two need to communicate if you want your relationship to last."

"You are so right again, Gus! What would I do without you?"

"You'd be alone and miserable," Gus answered truthfully.

"You know that's right," agreed Shawn. "Anywho," said Shawn looking out the window at the darkening sky. "It's getting late. I'm going to see Jules now. Wish me luck."

"Good luck," said Gus, knowing that he would need it and wondering whether he would actually have the balls to tell her the truth.

* * *

Juliet continued to cry, curled up in her bed. For the tenth time she picked up the picture lying on her nightstand. She looked at the fuzzy black and white image. It was there. It was real. She could just make out the shape of a tiny head and torso and even tinier limbs. She had even seen the little person moving around on the monitor in the doctor's office today. It was alive. She had a living, growing person inside of her. But outside everything seemed to be falling apart.

She hadn't told him yet. When she scheduled her first ultrasound, she thought of calling him, telling him, and asking him to join her. She thought he should be there to see their child for the first time. But she chickened out and went alone. Every time she considered telling him, she remembered his words that afternoon. He didn't like kids. He didn't want kids. He wasn't going to react well to this and she didn't need him breaking up with her right now. She didn't want to lose him. She loved him. But she couldn't keep treating him the way she was or she _would_ lose him, and she would have to tell him soon. She was 8 weeks along now. Two thirds of her first trimester were completed. She would start showing within a month or two. She'd have to tell him and everyone else she knew by then.

"Its ok baby," she said simultaneously to the picture and her stomach. "I'll get this worked out before you get here. I promise."

She heard a knock at her door and put the picture back on the nightstand. She got up, donned her robe and slippers, and made her way to the front door. A look through the peephole told her it was Shawn. She hesitated. She wasn't sure if she was ready for him, but one thought about her promise to her baby and she knew she had to let him in.

Shawn knocked again. "Jules! Are you in there? It's Shawn," he shouted through the door. "Look, I know you said you wanted me to leave you alone… but I can't do that. I can't do that because I'm your boyfriend, and I…I love you."

From inside Juliet listened. "I love you too," she whispered too quietly for him to hear.

"Jules, please. I know you're in there. Just let me in. There's something I want to tell you.—" The door swung open and he saw her standing there. Even without makeup on or her hair fixed, and with signs of recent tears on her face, she was beautiful. "Jules? What's going on? Why have you been crying?"

"We need to talk," she said taking his hand and pulling him inside.

"Uh…'_we need to talk?'…_Jules, you're scaring me," said Shawn as she led him to the living room and to the couch.

"Just, sit down," she said, and he obediently did as she said. She sat down and faced him. She took a deep, shaky sigh, preparing herself for anything. "Shawn, I…"

"Oh God. It's true. It's happening," Shawn interrupted. "You're breaking up with me. Please just let me say one thing before you do that. Please."

Juliet looked confused. "Shawn, I'm not breaking up with you," she clarified.

"You're not?" said Shawn, surprised and relieved.

"No. Look, I know I haven't been treating you very well this past week. And I'm sorry for that, but I don't want to break up with you," she took his hand between both of hers to reassure him. "I love you. I don't want to lose you."

"I love you too, Jules," Shawn said while rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb. "But why?" he asked. "Why all the snapping at me and giving me the runaround all week?"

Juliet started tearing up again, and shook her head in shame. "Shawn, again I'm sorry, but I don't know…I guess I was just scared," she quickly escalated from timidity to full-on rambling. "It's just, I've been freaking out ever since I found out, and I was worried about telling you because I thought you would freak out too, so I kept putting it off even though I knew I shouldn't, and it made it hard to face you –"

"Shh, Jules," said Shawn gently. "What is it? Just tell me."

She paused for a bit before she rounded up the courage to say it. "Shawn, I…I'm pregnant."

Shawn's jaw dropped. This was not what he had expected to hear at all. He sat there mouth agape for what seemed like forever. Juliet panicked at his lack of reaction. "Please say something, Shawn. You're making me nervous."

His mouth struggled to form syllables due to the shock. "I….ah…uh…whaaa? You're..you're..you're. You. Me. Baby?" His eyes settled on her stomach.

"Yes," she said still trying to gauge whether his reaction was good or bad.

"How….Wh..When? How far? I mean."

"8 weeks," she answered. "I'm due in July."

Shawn's expression was still blank and his voice still shaky as he continued to question her. "Wh..Whyyyy didn't you tell me?

"Like I said, I was scared…afraid of how you would react," she said. "And…and..you said you don't like kids. I thought you would be angry."

"Oh, Jules," said Shawn painfully, color finally returning to his face and finally regaining control of his voice. "I'm not angry. I'm sorry that I said that….damn! I am such a jerk! Uhh, honestly though, it's true I'm not crazy about kids…in general. But those are other people's kids. _Our_ kid, though…" He put his hand on Juliet's stomach gently. "Our baby is in there," he said finally breaking out a small smile that spread to Juliet's face. She placed her hands on the one that was resting on her stomach and nodded. "Oh Juliet, I love that little guy in there. And all of the crying and puking is going to be worth it, you know why?

She shook her head and asked, "Why?"

"Because he's _ours_, and he's half Spencer and half O'Hara, which means he is going to be _super cool_."

The mood had finally lightened. He hadn't freaked out. In fact, his reaction had been better than her own. Juliet giggled. "What if it's a girl?" she asked.

"Same deal," said Shawn. "Except I'm going to have to get used to prying the boys away from her, especially if she's any bit as gorgeous as you are."

Juliet smiled and blushed. A fresh tear trickled down her cheek. "Soo…you're ok with this," Juliet asked for reassurance. "You want to have a baby with me?"

"Ok?! Jules, when I came over here I thought you were going to break up with me, but instead I found out that you are having my baby. I'm waaayyyy better than 'ok'."

Noticing that Juliet still seemed unsure, Shawn pulled her into his arms and into a tight embrace. He stroked he hair and kissed her temple a few times before catching her lips in a searing kiss. It had been over a week since they had kissed like this and it felt like awakening the dead. She nuzzled his neck and pulled her body closer to his.

"I missed you, Shawn. I'm sorry I was such a jerk this week."

"Eh, I probably deserved it," he said.

"No. No you didn't," disagreed Juliet. "You were only trying to be a good boyfriend and I gave you the cold shoulder. You didn't deserve that. I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted…but hey, at least you could chalk it up to hormones or something."

"Tell me about it," she said. "This week has been jam-packed with cravings, nausea, and crazy emotions. I didn't even need an ultrasound to convince me that I'm pregnant."

"You got an ultrasound?" Shawn asked curiously.

"Oh yeah. Hey, come to the bedroom. I have something to show you." Juliet pulled Shawn to a standing position and towards the hall. "…and then, I'll let you see the ultrasound pictures…" she flirted. Shawn raised an eyebrow lustfully and followed.

"By the way," said Juliet on the way to the bedroom. "Didn't you say you had something you wanted to tell me?"

"Oh, that?" answered Shawn, rubbing the back of his head apprehensively. "It's not important. It can wait."

* * *

The next afternoon, Juliet came by the Psych Office to surprise Shawn. He and Gus had been working there on the case and she hadn't had the opportunity to see her smiling boyfriend's face all day long. She found them, instead of working like she expected, in the middle of a contest to see who could toss the most onion rings onto the coat hanger. She wrinkled her nose at the greasy mess that lay on the floor and smeared across the wall behind the hanger. "What, in God's name is going on in here?" she exclaimed.

"Well, we _were _eating lunch, when Gus had the nerve to claim that he was currently undefeated in Ring Toss," Shawn explained, "which, is totally ridiculous because everyone knows that _I_, indeed, am Santa Barbara's leading champion in Ring Toss, Toss Across, and Bozo the Clown's Bucket Toss," Shawn continued, glaring at Gus. "Long story, short…we needed to settle the score, but we didn't have a Ring Toss set, Soooo…." Shawn waved his arm towards the mess.

"Hmm, ok," said Juliet, sorry that she had even thought it was a good idea to ask. "Anyway," she continued, changing the subject. She stepped into the office finally, and walked straight over to where Shawn was standing behind the line of tape that Gus had lain down to keep him from cheating. She pulled him close to her and pecked him on the lips. "I just stopped by to see how my man was doing. I haven't seen you all day. I missed you." She kissed Shawn, again, a little harder this time.

Gus was speechless at the sudden change in Juliet's demeanor. Yesterday, she had been avoiding Shawn like the plague, and today she was acting sickeningly lovey dovey towards him. Apparently their conversation last night had gone well, which surprised him, considering that Shawn had been avoiding the subject of Juliet all morning. Gus had guessed that after Shawn's confession, Juliet had told him that she'd never want to see his face again. In fact, that was the only reason Gus had allowed the onion ring toss to take place. He thought of it as a way to cheer up a buddy who had just lost the girl of his dreams.

"I missed you too, sweetheart," replied Shawn softly. He, too, seemed a bit surprised by Juliet's so outward display of affection, but relished in it. "Hey, why don't you stay a bit? Since Gus and I just tossed half of our lunch across the room, I was going to grab us a couple of churros from the stand out there. Would you like me to get one for you?"

"Yum! I'd love a churro. Thanks, baby," said Juliet sweetly, while trailing gentle kisses on the stubble of Shawn's chin. Gus felt a sudden need to hurl and looked away as Shawn placed a kiss on her nose causing her to adorably wrinkle her face. He squeezed her hand before leaving the Office. Juliet sat down on his desk, sighing and blushing happily as she watched him go.

"Ahem!" Gus coughed, startling Juliet who had apparently forgotten that he was in the room.

"Oh, Gus," she said, suddenly flustered and bashfully apologized for having not said hello. She wasn't sure how much, if anything, Shawn had told him, making her unsure of what to say to the black man standing on the other side of the room. He spared her by starting the conversation.

"So, you and Shawn seem to be doing exceptionally well today?" Gus, too, couldn't be sure of what, if anything, Shawn had said to his girlfriend the night before. It was seeming to him as if Shawn had chickened out on his original plan and instead charmed Juliet back into his good graces. Juliet's next statement appeared to squash that theory, though.

"Yeah, well, we had a good talk last night. We were finally open and honest with each other, and now…" She didn't continue further, not wanting to reveal her condition to Gus in case he didn't already know. She wanted to let Shawn tell him. Instead she just shrugged happily and raised her palm towards the door that Shawn had previously exited to indicate that they were obviously in a good place in their relationship at the moment.

"That's good. I'm glad." Gus smiled. He was dumbfounded that Juliet had been taking news of Shawn's lie so well. "It's good that you can be so cool about all of this," he said.

"This?" she questioned, tilting her head curiously to the side. "You mean that you know? Shawn told you, then?" she asked.

"Of course," said Gus, to which Juliet became notably less uncomfortable. She was surprisingly glad that it was in the open and she didn't have to be careful about talking about it in front of Gus now. "I've known all along," Gus continued.

Juliet was suddenly thrown off again. _All along?_ _Shawn didn't even know until last night. What could Gus mean by "all along?"_ The only thing she could think was that he had noticed her symptoms last week and had put two and two together. "You, mean, you knew all week and you didn't say anything to Shawn about it?" she asked curiously. She wasn't angry, just surprised that Gus would have kept his suspicions to himself.

"All week?" implored Gus. Now he was the one confused. "Try the last five years! I've known from the very beginning. Henry and I were the only ones who knew all this time, and now you do…" Gus trailed off when he noticed the sudden wrath showing up in Juliet's expression as she realized that she and Gus were talking about two very different things. She remembered Shawn mentioning the night before that he had something to tell her and came to understand that Gus was talking about whatever that was. And whatever it was sounded like it must be a whopper, having been kept from her for five years. "…too," Gus finished, now knowing that he was completely wrong.

Juliet's face turned red and she paced a few times, her breathing erratic as she tried to reign in the panic that was forming inside her. She took a deep breath and faced Gus's terrified and guilt-ridden gaze. "Gus, WHAT have you known for five years?"

"Shawn didn't tell you last night?" he asked feebly, even though it was quite obvious that he knew the answer to his own question. "I…I thought he told you. I thought that was what you were talking about."

"What ARE we talking about, Gus?!" Juliet yelled through a whimper. It was at that moment that Shawn returned from the churro cart, holding two of the tasty treats in his left hand and an already partially eaten one in his right. He stopped dead and chewed and swallowed the churro in his mouth, as Juliet whipped her head around to face him and he saw her angry and hurtful gaze bore into his soul. "What is Gus talking about, SHAWN!?"

He had only been gone a few minutes, during which Juliet had somehow transformed from his adorable sweetheart to a crazed psychopath. Aside from a nervous gulp, Shawn stood stone still as Juliet stomped across the room and got right in his face. Shawn wondered what on earth Gus had said to bring on this sudden transformation. "What aren't you telling me? What is it that Gus has known for five years?" she grunted angrily, trying to keep herself from screaming.

Shawn wanted nothing more than to lie…to make up some ridiculous explanation that would make Juliet laugh and wonder why she had gotten so angry. But he doubted that such an approach would work this time, nor did he think it was fair to continue to lie to the mother-to-be of his child. He decided it was time to tell the truth. He dropped the churros onto the floor and reached for Juliet's arms that were wrapped across her chest. He tried to push her gently towards the couch. "Jules…I think you should sit down."

Juliet resisted and wrestled free of Shawn's grasp. "No, Shawn, you will tell me right here, right now!" Gus, feeling out of place now and also petrified of Juliet's fury, crept away from the scene. As soon as he had made it out of the office, he hopped into the Blueberry and peeled out of the parking lot with a loud screech. Shawn glanced momentarily out the window at the noise and returned his attention to Juliet who was waiting impatiently for an explanation.

"Ok," he began. "When I came over last night, I was going to tell you that…well, I thought you were catching on so I decided it was time to tell you the truth…the truth that…"

"Spit it out, Spencer!" she screamed.

"…that, I'm a fraud," he said. "That I'm not really a psychic." Juliet stared at him, speechless and unreadable. She didn't know what she expected to hear from Shawn, but it definitely wasn't that. Shawn felt the need to elaborate during her silence. "All of this," he waved his arms around the room, "is a lie. I can't speak with the dead or predict the future…at least not in a supernatural way. I am just a really really good detective. This…this all started from one little white lie that went totally awry…"

Juliet tried to process everything while Shawn explained, but she just didn't know what to think. She felt angry at being lied to, betrayed, foolish, a failure as a detective. How could she have believed him all of this time? He had been fooling her for five years, and then knowingly continued to lie to her as he entered into a relationship with her. She had fallen for his tricks. She trusted him with her life and now she couldn't even be sure she could trust him at all. Not only had she allowed herself to become vulnerable to him but she was now carrying his child. And he was a liar and a fraud!

"Jules…say something…you're scaring me," Shawn pleaded.

She held up her hand to shush him and shook her head in humiliation. She spoke low and even. "I don't even _know _you. Don't talk to me. Don't come around anymore. I never want to see your face again."

"You don't mean that," Shawn said painfully. She didn't say a word to satisfy him, but walked out without looking back.

* * *

"Shawn? Shawn, are you here?" called Gus entering the Psych Office. After stealing away, he had driven several blocks before realizing he was probably going to need to be there to keep Shawn from doing something stupid after his girlfriend broke up with him. He just hoped Shawn wasn't ready to kill him for his slip up. Gus turned the car around and drove back to the Office. "Shawn, are you alright?" he asked, still looking around for any sign of his buddy.

Shawn didn't appear to be in the office any longer, even though his motorcycle was still parked outside. Gus paced anxiously, until something curious laying on Shawn's desk caught his attention. He picked up the photograph and nearly had a heart attack when he saw that it was an ultrasound. Now everything suddenly made sense…Juliet's odd behavior, their confusing conversation. Shawn hadn't confessed to her last night, but she had told him that she was having a baby.

Through the front window, Gus caught a glimpse of Shawn across the way on the beach, kicking the sand angrily with his feet. He sprinted to his friend and held up the picture. "Would you like to explain this?" he asked, not reproachfully but sensitively.

"I messed up, Gus. I messed up real bad."


	3. Complicated Secrets, Part 3

**Hi everyone. I'm finally back! I've been itching to write some stuff all week, but I've been busy babysitting my niece and she is a handful! I barely had a few moments to myself and when I did get them, all I wanted to do was sleep. Now she's finally gone home and all is quiet again. So right now, I'm adding part 3 to "Complicated Secrets." Now that this is starting to turn out so long, I suppose I could have made it its own story, but I think I'll keep it here. I have additional parts planned for "San Francisco" and an idea for another AU fic with a similar baby-centric theme. Since they all have the same theme, I'll keep them together. I'll always have the final chapter be the most recent update, but as I add more chapters, I'll shift them around so that the individual stories stay together.**

* * *

Karen Vick glanced up from her desk to see her blonde junior detective through her open office door. The young woman sat at her desk, chugging away at endless paperwork. Karen sighed. Detective O'Hara had not been the same for almost two weeks, and she figured it wasn't a coincidence that a certain psychic consultant hadn't stepped foot into the station during all of that time and had turned down every offer for a case that she had presented to him. She hadn't taken the initiative to ask O'Hara what happened between them. She assumed that Shawn had not taken the news well. That much didn't surprise her, but for goodness sakes, it had been two weeks and the expectant couple still weren't speaking! She figured that Shawn would come around eventually. She knew that deep down he was a good person and loved Juliet. She thought they would have worked something out by now.

It wasn't her place to say anything to O'Hara. She knew that. Whatever was going on, it hadn't affected Juliet's ability to do her job. In fact, she was now more focused than ever. But Karen genuinely hoped that the young detective would take her up on her offer to talk. She was worried, and on top of that, surprisingly missing the psychic and the promise of a case solved that he brought with him every time he entered the station.

Juliet hadn't told Carlton yet, but he knew that something was going on with her. He just couldn't determine what it was. He had also noticed the long-time absence of his least favorite consultant and was reveling in the freedom from the boyish man and his useless side-kick. He was glad to finally get some of the attention and credit for his work.

For the twelfth time in just as many days, Lassiter made an attempt to pull his partner from her uncharacteristic quietness. "Hey there..." he got her attention. She looked up at him, expressionless. "Dobson just made a fresh pot of coffee. Can I get you some?"

"No thanks." She gave only the terse response and went back to her work.

Carlton tried again, with a more direct approach. "O'Hara? Is everything ok with you?" he asked carefully.

"I'm fine, Carlton. Just trying to get my work done." Even Carlton, though, could tell that her shaky response indicated that she was anything but fine.

"I don't understand, O'Hara. How can you not be ecstatic? We haven't seen that frustrating pair of unprofessional jokes of detectives in two whole weeks. Isn't it nice to finally have some order to this place?"

Juliet immediately cringed at the mention of her estranged boyfriend. "I'd rather not talk about that, if you don't mind," she said trying to keep the intense emotions she was feeling from becoming noticeable.

"Ha! You're not telling me that you actually _miss _those two clowns, are you?" Lassiter responded in disbelief.

"No, absolutely not," Juliet said emphatically. I don't miss them. At all! I just don't want to talk about them right now, so I'd appreciate it if you could leave me to do my paperwork in peace, thank you." She said this a little more harshly than intended and looked uncomfortably at the surface of her desk. Carlton couldn't be sure but he thought he saw her eyes glass over with tears just a little. Completely unsure of what to say to his partner that wouldn't upset her further, he kept his mouth shut.

* * *

It was the weekend and Juliet had the day off. She was dressed in street clothes for the first time in over a week and had noticed that she was barely able to button her jeans over her stomach now. She walked alone along the busy sidewalk within Santa Barbara's shopping district, peeking into shop windows but never stepping foot inside any of them. She finally paused when she reached a baby store. The sign above the entrance read _'My Sweet Pineapple'_ and featured an animated image of a pineapple with a happy face. She shook her head at the blaring reminder of Shawn. It felt as if the universe was trying to tell her something. She looked at the white crib in the window with its soft pink bedding, a baby blue teddy bear, and a display of teeny tiny clothes. She hadn't gotten anything for the baby yet. She figured it was probably best to wait until everyone knew…maybe she could find out whether it was a boy or a girl first and then she would know what to get.

She suddenly felt very alone. She didn't want to be doing this all on her own. Realistically she knew she wouldn't have to. She had called her mother to explain the whole situation, who offered to come out to Santa Barbara to help her out. She didn't want to take her mother away from her life in Miami though. What she really wanted was Shawn. For the few hours between telling him about the baby and finding out about his lie, she had been genuinely excited about raising a baby with him. Admittedly, a little scared, but mostly excited. She wanted that feeling back. She wanted to feel Shawn touch her again, to feel the rush she felt when she kissed him. She wanted the Shawn she knew back. But as far as she was concerned, that Shawn didn't exist anymore…maybe he never existed.

Juliet didn't go into the shop. She stared only for a few moments and then kept walking. She did however, go into a maternity wear store a few doors down. She was going to have to do something about those pants.

* * *

Shawn watched her from a distance. He saw her stop briefly in front of _'My Sweet Pineapple'_ as she looked longingly at the items in the window, and then she turned and walked away. He felt awful. He had ruined her. Her healthy, happy spark was gone. Her movements were now slow and sad, and it was all his fault. Why couldn't he have been honest with her in the first place? Why did he even have to lie five years ago? He probably could have found another way to clear his name other than claiming he was a psychic. But then…he realized…he probably never would have met Juliet if it wasn't for that first lie. He wouldn't have gotten to know her. He wouldn't have fallen in love with her.

So far he hadn't worked his way back to her, but it wasn't for lack of trying. He called, he texted, he emailed, and had shown up at her front door more than once, and every time she either told him to go away or ignored him altogether. He would be damned if he ever just let her walk away and pushed him out of their child's life. Whether she liked it not, he was going to be there for her and his baby. He crossed the street to the baby store and went inside.

* * *

Returning home after an afternoon of shopping, Juliet parked her Volkswagen in front of her apartment and ascended the stairs to her front door. She found, waiting on the stoop, a package. It was wrapped in soft blue and pink baby paper. She picked it up and brought it inside, not even leaving the foyer before tearing open the paper and finding a small mint green onesie and a note. She first unfolded the onesie and read the text printed on its front, "Daddy loves me." Now knowing who the package was from she hesitantly unfolded the note and read the hand-writing that she knew to be Shawn's

_Dear O'Hara-Spencer baby,_

_I've been a major jerk to your mom. I've been dishonest, and irresponsible, and for good reason she isn't speaking to me now. But I just want you to know that no matter what, your daddy loves you. I want to be a part of your life, and even though your mom doesn't want me around I am going to be there. For you._

_Love,_

_Dad_

_P.S. Please tell your mom that I am sorry and I miss her._

Juliet finished reading and held the onesie and the note close to her chest and leaned her back against the door. She broke into sobs as she sunk down to the ground. She suddenly felt like the worst human being on the planet. Sure, Shawn had been a jerk. She didn't know if she could forgive him for lying to her. But that wasn't a reason to keep him from being a part of his child's life. She had been selfish and hated herself for what she had done. She loved Shawn and missed him too. She never meant to hurt him.

* * *

Monday morning Juliet pulled on a new pair of dress pants. The stretchier waistband fit much better over her slightly bulging stomach. She tried on one of her shirts and looked at herself in the mirror, turning sideways and straightening the shirt over her belly, trying to gauge how noticeable it was. It was only a tiny bump. Most likely no one would notice unless they were really looking for it…but she wasn't satisfied. She couldn't risk that Carlton would notice. She took a loose-fitting shirt from her closet and traded it for the one she was wearing, looking at herself again in the mirror and shifted around her pants and top until she was more comfortable, then put on her suit jacket. She would just have to make sure to keep it buttoned.

She sighed. She wasn't sure how much longer she would be able to hide her belly, and decided that today was the day. She had to tell Carlton. Quickly fixing up her hair and donning her shoes, she grabbed her gun and purse and left for the station.

Arriving at the SBPD fifteen minutes later, she was approached by her senior partner. "You're late, O'Hara," he said.

"Sorry, Carlton, I had trouble…finding something to wear," she admitted honestly.

"Women problems," scoffed Carlton earning him dirty look from his younger partner.

"Look, Carlton, do we have anything immediately pressing right now," Juliet asked sincerely.

"Uh…no, not as of yet," Carlton admitted, uncertainty creeping onto his features. Juliet was acting strange…strange in a different way than she had been for the past few weeks. She seemed nervous and she was clearly looking to have some sort of chat.

"Good, um…I have to tell you something…can we go someplace more quiet," asked Juliet, feeling butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

"Sure," he said putting a gentle hand to her back and leading her to the conference room. Once inside, he locked the door and closed the blinds. "What is it, O'Hara?" He didn't know what he expected to hear. Did she have something to confess about a case? Had she acquired pertinent evidence unlawfully? Had she found evidence to out Spencer as a fraud? That would certainly explain his absence all this time. He hoped the last one were true. He sat across from the nervous young woman.

Juliet looked straight down at the table for a few moments, and decided that the best approach was to just come out with it. She took a deep breath and looked the man in the eye. "Carlton, I'm three months pregnant."

At first, Carlton's jaw dropped. He sat still for a few seconds and then started laughing. Juliet looked strangely at him…not the reaction she expected. "I'm sorry, O'Hara, I could have sworn you just said that you were three months pregnant."

"I am," she said simply.

Carlton's chuckles slowed and came to a stop as he realized the truth. "Wait…so, you're really pregnant? This isn't a joke?" he asked. He couldn't think of how this was possible. She was a mature and responsible woman, and as far as he knew, Juliet wasn't dating anyone…at least not since Declan.

"It's not a joke. I'm going to have a baby in July," Juliet clarified for her dumbfounded partner. "The Chief already knows."

"Is…is it Declan's," he asked, thinking that that wouldn't be such a bad thing. At least the baby would be well taken care of financially.

"It's not Declan's. I broke up with him more than four months ago….and it's none of your business who the father is. We're…uh, we're not together anymore."

Carlton felt a fire burning inside him. "So…you're saying that you are going to raise the baby on your own, then?"

"More or less," she answered with a shrug, though she had honestly been reconsidering that very thing. She was thinking of going to see Shawn later that evening, but for the time being she allowed Carlton to believe that the father was someone else who was no longer in her life.

Carlton's fire only burned hotter. The thought of some no-good hooligan getting Juliet pregnant and then leaving her on her own was infuriating. "So he left you?!" Carlton yelled. "O'Hara, you better tell me who this guy is! I am going to track this guy down, and I swear I will-"

"Carlton!" Juliet scolded. "Settle down. It didn't happen like that!" She sighed and lowered her voice. "I left him."

"You…you did? Why?"

"That isn't any of your business either, Carlton," Juliet made herself perfectly clear. "We are not talking about this any further. I don't need your help, and I definitely don't need you hunting down and harassing my baby's father. I told you because you are my colleague and you need to know that I will be going on desk duty next month and then maternity leave in July. That's it."

Carlton looked as if he wanted to say something…to argue with her…to convince her to allow him to go looking for this guy and demand…he didn't know…child support, or something. He saw the stern look on his partner's face that had something else behind it…pleading. "Ok, O'Hara," he responded feebly. He awkwardly placed a comforting hand on her forearm. "Just know, though, if you change your mind…my offer still stands. I will find this guy and - !"

"Carlton!" Juliet growled angrily.

He stifled himself quickly and nodded in submissive obedience. He then got up and walked to the door, unlocking it. He turned around one last time before leaving and faced Juliet. "Congratulations," he said half-sincerely.

She figured half-sincere was about as good as anyone could expect from Carlton. "Thank you," she responded with a brief smile.

After Carlton had finally left the room, Juliet got up and left too. Instead of heading back to her desk, she walked to the exit, needing to take a time-out before returning to work. She decided to take a walk at the nearby park. She had barely exited the station door, however, when a black-gloved hand grabbed her arm. She couldn't see the man who was behind her, but she would never forget that deathly grip or his breath on her neck. She tried to wrestle free, but the hand held her firm. She tried to yell, but the other hand held a chloroformed cloth fast to her mouth and nose. She had no choice but to breathe in the pungent chemical until all was black.

* * *

**Believe it or not, 'My Sweet Pineapple' is an actual baby clothing store in Santa Barbara. How perfect is that?!**

**Thanks for reading and stay tuned! Please review. I love to hear what you think!**


	4. Complicated Secrets, Part 4 (final)

**Hi everyone. Here is the fourth and final installment of "Complicated Secrets." I realized that the final paragraph of part 3 makes it sound like Juliet's kidnapper was someone she encountered before in the series. I actually didn't intend to make it sound that way. As you'll see, its actually an original character. Also, if any of the facts surround the case-file don't add up, please don't hold it against me. The case is only the backdrop for the story which is about Shules, so I didn't put a whole lot of effort into making sure that the case makes total sense. Anyway, I hope you like this and keep your eyes peeled for more updates to "San Francisco" or to a brand new fic in this series.**

* * *

Henry Spencer descended the stairs of his beachside home, yawning and stretching as he shuffled to the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. He flipped on the small TV which sat on his kitchen counter to catch the morning news. He paused at first, knowing that about seven times out of ten he would be finding out second-hand that his idiot son had gotten himself into another sticky and life-threatening situation. To his relief, there was no mention of Shawn within the first several minutes of the news. He exhaled strongly as he realized he had been holding his breath, and then was struck with a strange feeling of dread. He recalled the last couple of weeks and thought about the last time that he had even spoken to his son. It had been quite a while. Too long…

Henry started working himself into a panic when he realized that Shawn hadn't come by for help with a case, nor to retrieve any one of his long forgotten but somehow still sentimentally valuable possessions from the garage, or to use his truck or his home as a refuge for one of his off-the-wall clients. He hadn't been around for any reason whatsoever, and Henry knew that could not be a good thing. He grabbed his dated phone from the wall and dialed Shawn's number.

After several attempts and being sent only to voicemail, he hopped into his truck and made his way towards the Psych Office. Upon reaching the front door, he noticed a piece of paper taped to it that, scrawled in sloppy handwriting, said. "Closed until further notice."

"Oh Shit…" he said to himself. "What is this about?" He decided to try the doorknob and just as he expected, found it unlocked. He entered to find a royal mess lying before him. Shawn was passed out on the couch looking as if he hadn't changed or showered in days and the room was littered with trash and take-out containers.

"Shawn!" Henry yelled to his son, who didn't budge from his slumber. He trudged over to the couch and shook the sleeping man. "Shawn! Wake up! What happened to this place? What have you been doing with yourself all of this time?"

"Ugh!" Shawn groaned. "Just five more minutes, Dad…" He turned himself over on the couch and snuggled into a pillow.

"No, Shawn! You need to get off your ass now and explain to me what is going on? Why is Psych 'closed until further notice?'"

Shawn sluggishly sat himself up and brushed his fingers through his bedhead. "Since when do you care that Psych is closed? I thought you disapproved of my career choice, anyway."

"I do, Shawn," Henry admitted. "I've told you time and time again that pretending to be something you are not is going to come back and bite you in the ass one day. BUT, it's better than sitting around on said ass doing absolutely nothing."

"It's too late, Dad," complained Shawn. "It already bit me on the ass and it hurts so…damn…much."

"Wait! Are you telling me that your secret is out? Who found out? Karen? Lassiter? _Juliet?..._It was Juliet wasn't it? Dammit, Shawn! I TOLD you this was going to happen!"

"No, Dad!" Shawn argued. "She didn't _find out_. I _told _her….and now she hates me. She told me not to come around anymore, so I can't exactly work cases with the SBPD and not expect to see her there. Psych is over. We can't survive without the SBPD. Lucky for Gus, he kept his day job."

Henry moved several take-out containers from the couch and sat down next to Shawn. "So Juliet knows…she obviously hasn't turned you in, which means this is really just all about her breaking up with you."

"Yes and sort of," Shawn answered.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Henry asked suspiciously.

"Well Dad, there's a little more to the story than that." Shawn got up and shuffled over to his desk. After pushing another take-out bag out of the way, he pulled open the top drawer and retrieved a photograph; the one Juliet had given him the evening before she walked out on him. He quietly handed it to Henry who glanced at it and then put his face in his free hand, rubbing his temple with his thumb.

"Shawn, what is _this_?" Henry asked harshly, dreading the answer.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Shawn explained. "I forgot that this technology wasn't around in your day. It's called an ultrasound. You see…"

"I know what an ultrasound is, Shawn!" shouted Henry in frustration. "What I want to know is why you have an ultrasound picture stored in your desk drawer!" Henry, of course, knew the answer, but wanted to hear Shawn say it himself, and he also hoped beyond hope that there was some other logical explanation.

"It's my kid, Dad," Shawn answered, his voice cracking. "Juliet is pregnant."

"Ooh God!" said Henry, shaking his head and laughing out of disbelief that he had actually thought he had escaped this exact scenario with Shawn. Ever since the night that he had arrested Shawn for taking the neighbor's car, he had expected that one day Shawn would come to him saying he had gotten some random girl pregnant. After fifteen years, he had actually thought that day would never come. At least it wasn't just a random girl, though. It was Juliet. But of course this had to be happening when she had just broken up with him.

"Shawn…this is serious. You need to put aside whatever differences you have with Juliet, step up, and take responsibility for this. You have a baby involved now…you can't take care of baby when you are not even speaking to its mother, and not to mention in a pigsty like this and without a job!"

"I know!" Shawn yelled angrily. "I've tried!" Shawn paced anxiously across the room, pulling frantically at his already messed up hair. "She won't talk to me. She wants nothing to do with me. She won't let me help her! What else can I do?"

"Do you blame her!?" said Henry severely, standing up swiftly and pointing to Shawn and to the mess in the room. "Look at you. Look at this place. And you lied to her. How is she supposed to trust you to be a father?"

Shawn glared at his Dad, fury building inside him. "Dad...You..you!" Shawn was at a loss for an argument.

Both men were distracted from their anger, though, when Henry's phone rang. He was surprised to see that the caller was Chief Vick, and answered, "Yeah, Karen?"

"_Henry, have you been in touch with Shawn. I've been trying to get a hold of him, and…" _Henry could hear that her voice sounded urgent and he gathered a sense of something else…fear. This was serious.

"As a matter of fact, I'm with him right now." Henry answered.

"No," Shawn said. "No. No. No. Whatever she wants, I'm out. Psych is closed. No more cases." As intriguing as another challenging case sounded, he wasn't going anywhere near the station against Juliet's wishes. Shawn watched as Henry listened into his phone and became unsettlingly still and pale as a ghost.

"Shawn," Henry squeaked out in a fearful voice. "Juliet's been kidnapped."

Shawn couldn't move a muscle as he took in the news. He couldn't trust his ears. This wasn't happening…after several excruciatingly long moments, reality kicked in. "Oh, no, no, no. Oh God no!" Shawn immediately threw on his shoes and buttoned his shirt, trying to tame his hair as he rushed out of the office.

"I'll drive," said Henry following behind him.

* * *

"Dobson, have you seen O'Hara?" asked Lassiter.

Dobson shrugged. "Not since this morning."

"Damn!" said Lassiter under his breath. It had been almost two hours since their talk in the conference room and she had yet to return to her desk. He'd tried calling, but her phone kept going to voicemail. The anxious head detective stomped across the station, asking one officer after another if they had seen his partner. No one could recall seeing her since she had arrived at the station that morning.

"McNab!" shouted Lassiter to the gentle giant, catching up to the enormous man who was on his way to his lunch break. "Have you seen O'Hara recently?"

"Umm…" thought McNab. "I can't say as I have. Last I saw her she was on her way out the back entrance. She said something about taking a walk, I think…looked like she could use one too."

"How long ago was that?!" demanded Lassiter harshly.

The elder detective's ire making McNab uneasy, he stuttered, "I…I don't know…I suppose it was…um…about two hours ago."

"Shit!" roared Lassiter, his feet immediately pounding on the floor as he made his way to the back entrance. McNab followed.

"Wait, detective! Is there something wrong?" urged McNab, following Lassiter out of the back entrance and stopping dead in his tracks when Lassiter halted just outside the door and began scanning the area without a word to his younger colleague.

"Ooh No…" said Lassiter in a dreadful whisper as his gaze rested on the ground below a nearby shrubbery. Just off the sidewalk underneath the shrub lay Juliet's purse, her phone and several other items had spilled out. Lassiter knelt down and rifled through it carefully with his pen, making sure not to shift the evidence and noting that her firearm was still inside. McNab stood by, a troubled look on his face. "This can't be good," said Lassiter. Standing up, he noticed that there was a white cloth laying just under where the purse had dropped. He picked it up and sniffed it. "Chloroform," he said. "She's been taken."

Both officers rushed into the station and burst into Chief Vick's office, interrupting a meeting.

"Can I help you boys?" demanded the Chief in a scolding tone. Her expression tensed when she saw the urgency in their demeanors.

"Chief, O'Hara's missing. We think she's been abducted."

Vick was out of her seat as fast as lightning, and began yelling orders about the station, demanding BOLOs and search parties. Finally she turned to Lassiter, "Detective, look into O'Hara's current cases and most recent affairs. Try to figure out if there is anyone out for her. And McNab, you'd better get Mr. Spencer on the phone."

"Sure thing, Chief."

"Chief, are you serious?" exclaimed Lassiter. "We don't have the luxury of catering to his ridiculous shenanigans this time! She's out there on her own, who knows where, who knows with, without a phone or a weapon, and we can't dilly dally, especially taking her condition into account."

"Condition?" asked McNab.

"Detective O'Hara is pregnant," answered the Chief quickly. McNab gaped. "And that's enough arguing, Detective. Mr. Spencer is going to be informed, and we're going to need him."

Lassiter huffed and stalked away. He wasn't going to let that irresponsible child of a man risk his partner's life.

* * *

Both Spencers arrived at the station within ten minutes of Karen's call, and by that time the investigation was well underway. Officers had closed off the area where Juliet's belongings were found with crime scene tape while Lassiter and McNab were frantically scouring Juliet's files for clues. Shawn crashed into the station in an angered panic that few people had ever seen in the usually jovial psychic.

"What happened?! Where's Jules?!" he demanded to anyone in the bullpen who was willing to answer. "How could you guys let this happen to -?!"

"Shawn!" Henry shouted over him. "Yelling at everyone isn't going to help us find her. Settle down and focus!"

"I don't even know why you are here," breathed Lassiter. "You're only going to get in the way."

Some sort of unintelligible lion's roar combined with a Rottweiler's growl came from deep inside Shawn's gut as he lunged toward Lassiter. Lassiter hopped out of the way, while Henry struggled to hold him back. The Chief burst from her office, attempting to help the older man rein in the wild beast that was Shawn. Gus was just arriving while all of this was happening.

"Shawn?!" he exclaimed, and helped to wrangle him away from Lassiter and into the safety of the Chief's office where they made their best attempt to calm him down.

"What's gotten into him?" said Lassiter. McNab was still speechless and could only shrug.

It took a minute or two for the two men to gather their bearings and re-focus on their search. McNab clicked through some of Juliet's recent emails, stopping on a particular one and squinting at it curiously.

"What?" asked Lassiter impatiently as he observed McNab's expression.

"Didn't we close the Youngton murder case?" McNab asked.

"Yeah. Weeks ago. His trampy mistress did it. The DA's working on a prosecution as we speak."

"Well then, why was Detective O'Hara requesting to reopen the case?"

"Huh?" said Lassiter, pushing McNab away from the monitor and checking out the email for himself. He scanned over it, his eyes swiftly moving back and forth across the screen. He clicked on the attachments and tapped anxiously on the desk as he waited for them to load. When the documents appeared his eyes widened as he read through them, and he summed up his revelations for his massive colleague. "Apparently, the DA found evidence to dismiss the mistress as the killer. They called a mistrial yesterday."

The two officer's eyes met. Lassiter's were filled with dread and McNab's with fearful realization. "So…the killer is still out there?" McNab questioned.

"Yes, and he probably is the one who has O'Hara."

"By the time McNab and Lassiter had figured this out, the Chief had taken Shawn, Gus, and Henry to the site from where Juliet had disappeared at the back entrance. Inside the yellow tape, her belongings were still laid exactly as they were found, her purse tipped over with her phone and a few other items scattered around it and her gun peeking halfway out.

"He didn't take the gun?" Shawn asked curiously.

Lassiter and McNab sprinted to the group standing around the crime scene announcing their discovery. "She reopened the Youngton case!" McNab exclaimed, the statement at first seeming to have nothing to do with the current situation.

"This mistress didn't do it," Lassiter clarified.

"The real killer must have taken Juliet," McNab added before Lassiter could continue and everyone became immediately interested.

"I suspect the killer knew that O'Hara was reopening the case and wanted to put a stop to it," said Lassiter.

Shawn's head was swirling with all of this new information. He took in the scene in front of him while his memory also flashed back to all of the circumstance surrounding the Youngton case. Mr. Youngton was found stabbed to death in his own apartment, the firearm he owned left untouched and the murder weapon nowhere to be found. No signs of breaking and entering indicated that the killer likely knew him. Shawn remembered the acquaintances and family members coming into the station for questioning. One particular young man was required to drop his personal pocket knife at the cage before entering. He fingered the small item longingly before handing it over. The boy wore sneakers, a very distinctive pair. Scanning the dirt surrounding the back entrance of the station, Shawn eyed a print…a very distinctive sneaker print.

"He didn't take the gun," Shawn repeated to himself as he thought without question this time. Everyone turned to him and watched as he placed a finger to his temple and closed his eyes. Moments later, his eyes snapped open and everyone flinched slightly. "I know who did it!" he said suddenly. "I know who has Jules."

* * *

"Toby?" Juliet grunted as her eyes blinked open and she saw the teenage boy facing her. "Toby Youngton?"

"That's correct," said the boy stepping closer to her and retrieving his pocket knife from his jeans.

"It was you…" Juliet realized out loud. "You killed your Dad?"

"Ding. Ding. Ding. Give the lady a prize!" said Toby evilly. He flipped open the pocket knife and stepped a few steps closer. Juliet stood up, her head throbbing. She nearly lost consciousness in the process. When she had finally struggled to her feet she found she was pinned in a corner, the young man closing her in and holding the knife dangerously close to her neck. She swallowed deeply and tried to remain as still and calm as possible. "We can't have everyone finding that out now, can we?" Toby continued. He made a small cut, barely penetrating the skin on Juliet's neck. She yelped.

"Wh..Wh..Why?" Juliet stuttered.

"Well, because that tramp made such a good fall gal. No one was supposed to know it was me."

"No..No. I mean, why would you murder your own father?" she asked carefully.

"Because, I just can't get enough of the rush I get when sharp metal pierces delicate skin. I had to see what it felt like to pierce his." Juliet noticed the scars covering Toby's forearms and wrists and realized how troubled he actually was.

"But, why him?" she probed, trying to keep him talking and his focus away from her own skin.

Toby's eyes glassed over, revealing the sensitive boy behind all of his anger. "Why wouldn't I?!" he yelled. That man did nothing but cause misery! I was tired of seeing him hurt my mom…tired of seeing him lie to and brush off my little sister time and time again. All she wanted was her daddy to notice her, but he didn't care! He didn't care that he was hurting them over and over again. He didn't care about….me."

During his rant, Toby had been trailing his beloved pocket knife down Juliet's neck and towards her stomach, carefully popping the buttons on her shirt, but not piercing her skin. When he got to her stomach and noticed the small bump, he gasped and took a step back. He looked back and forth between the detective's face and her stomach. Juliet nodded to confirm that his suspicion was correct.

"I…I think I know how you feel…" Juliet attempted some compassion for the damaged boy before her. "My father was the same, constantly lying to me and forgetting about me. No child should feel like that. It's not fair. I'm sorry for what you've been through, Toby." Juliet suddenly came to realize what she had been so angry about for the last few weeks…the reason why she couldn't stand to face Shawn again. He had lied to her…a huge lie. She couldn't handle the thought of him lying to their child too. She couldn't have her baby feeling the way she felt growing up…the way Toby felt now.

"And what about this one?" asked Toby, pointing the knife into her stomach. "Is he going to feel that way too?"

Juliet faltered, not knowing what to say. She didn't want to believe that Shawn would allow his child to feel that way…but she had felt betrayed when she discovered his lie. How could she prevent that from happening to her child? She then thought back to the note that Shawn had written.

"_I am going to be there. For you." _Shawn had said.

As much as she had tried to push him away, Shawn hadn't given up. And when she really thought about it, she couldn't help but notice that all of his lies had really just revolved around the one lie. He wasn't a psychic. So what? He still could solve crimes and save lives like no one else, and he wouldn't stop until justice was served. He was dedicated and loyal…and he loved her. He loved their baby. She knew that he would stop at nothing to save her as soon as he discovered she was missing.

"No," said Juliet confidently to Toby. "My baby is not going to feel like that."

"Well, maybe we should just be sure of that," said Toby derisively, while pushing the knife a little more firmly towards her stomach, though not yet breaking skin.

"Please! Please, no!" Juliet resigned to begging now. She didn't know what else she could do.

Before Toby could press the knife any further, her colleagues crashed through the door and Toby was tackled by Shawn. Lassiter and Chief Vick apprehended the boy from him and slapped on a pair of cuffs. Shawn immediately ran to Juliet. "Jules! Oh my God, Jules! Are you ok?" He checked her over quickly, satisfied that she wasn't seriously injured and then placed a searing kiss on her lips. She responded eagerly. Lassiter's jaw dropped.

"The baby? Is the baby ok?" Shawn asked, kneeling down to inspect her stomach and placing several kisses on the thankfully unbroken skin.

"I think the baby is fine, Shawn," answered Juliet.

"Oh, thank God! I am never leaving you and our little one out of sight again!"

"I know," said Juliet assuredly. "I know." She wrapped her arms firmly around her boyfriend as if she never wanted to let go and nuzzled her face into his neck, before separating just enough to kiss Shawn again. "I'm sorry, Shawn," she apologized. "I'm sorry for pushing you away. I was just scared…afraid of being hurt again."

Shawn took Juliet's head in both hands weaving his fingers through her hair and kissing her repeatedly all over her face and then looked her straight in the eyes. "Jules, I'm sorry I hurt you. I never meant to hurt you and I sure as hell never want to see you like that again! I know I still have some growing up to do, Jules, but I hope you'll let me stay around. I hope you'll help me to be a good dad. That's all I want for you."

"Yes, of course, Shawn. I wouldn't have it any other way. I love you."

"I love you too, Jules," said Shawn pulling her into his chest. They stood in each others arms for several moments, unaware that everyone in the room was watching them, including a very shocked Carlton Lassiter.

"You?" growled Lassiter at Shawn. "It's you?!" He lunged for the faux psychic looking about ready to take the man's head off.

"Carlton, no!" shouted Juliet while Henry and Gus struggled to keep the lanky detective from attacking Shawn. "Carlton, stop it!"

Lassiter gave in to Henry and Gus. He loosened and stood tall, pointing a stern finger at Shawn. "Just know, I'm watching you. You ever hurt my partner or that baby, you'll have me to answer to."

Shawn gulped. "I'm well aware of that Lassie."

"And just so you know, Carlton," added Juliet glaring at Lassiter. "You touch my boyfriend and I'll shoot you."

* * *

SIX MONTHS LATER

"Arrgghh!" Juliet groaned, as she gave another forceful push. She felt as if her insides were tearing in half.

"Just one or two more good pushes should do it," said the doctor. "You're doing great."

"See it's not that bad," said Shawn. "You're almost there."

"Not that bad?!" shouted Juliet, glaring at Shawn with her hair wet and forehead glimmering with perspiration. "I'd like to see you give this a try!"

"Sure, I'm always up for a challenge," said Shawn. "Next time you can get me pregnant."

"Oh please! I can't even think about a 'next time.' I do not want to do this again!"

"That's why I'll do it," said Shawn matter-of-factly.

"Ooohhhh," moaned Juliet, though it wasn't clear whether she was in pain or just annoyed. "Just shut up and help me focus!"

A few more pushes and lots of screaming and arguing later, baby boy Spencer had finally entered the world. Having been expecting a girl, Shawn and Juliet were caught off guard, but elated nonetheless. The tiny infant was swaddled in a soft blanket and had his head of dark hair covered in a baby blue beanie before being placed in his mother's arms.

"Oh, look at him, Shawn!" said the happy new mom, her eyes watering with joy. "He's perfect and just as handsome as his daddy."

Shawn grinned and patted himself on the back. "I told you I make beautiful babies, Jules," he said proudly placing his finger in his son's palm and allowing the tiny fingers to wrap around his much larger one.

Juliet gave him a faux incredulous look. "And you knew this, how?" she probed jokingly. "This is the only baby you've made, I hope."

"As far as I know," answered Shawn. "But you know…psychic sense…intuition…the fact that he's got a smoking hot mother…I just knew he'd be a good looking kid, even though I thought he was a girl for the last four months."

"Hmmm…yeah," agreed Juliet. "I guess we are going to have to re-paint the nursery. Maybe we can turn those butterflies into pterodactyls."

"I do love me some dinos said Shawn. You know I discovered one myself," he added as if Juliet didn't know.

"Yeah, I remember," she said.

"Have you chosen a name for him?" asked a nurse who was bringing the baby's hospital bracelet and wanting to know what to write on it. The couple looked at each other with wide eyes. They hadn't even thought of boy's names.

"Emma Jane?" said Shawn. The nurse wrinkled her brow and Juliet slapped her boyfriend. "What?! That's the name we picked?!"

"Yeah, when we thought he was a girl. We need a boy's name."

"But we didn't pick a boy's name!"

"Then, let's pick one now," said Juliet. "He has to have a name!"

"You don't have to decide right now," said the nurse. "The bracelet is just to identify him as yours. It's not a birth certificate. All I need is a last name."

"No wait!" said Shawn. "Put uh…Pineapple Spencer on there."

"Shawn! I told you we're not calling him Pineapple!" Juliet exclaimed.

"No. You said we're not calling HER Pineapple. Now that it's a HIM, everything you said about HER is moot."

"Shaaawwwn," Juliet bellowed.

"What?! She said it's not official. We can change it later. Right?" Shawn asked to confirm with the nurse. The nurse shrugged and made a funny face but couldn't deny that he was right. Juliet shook her head adamantly while Shawn pleaded like a pesky child. "Oh Please! Please! Please, Jules! Can we call him Pineapple…just for today? We'll change it tomorrow. I promise!"

Juliet couldn't resist her boyfriend's pouty face. She tossed up her arm in defeat. "Alright, fine. But just for today," she clarified.

"Yesss!"

"So, first name Pineapple? Last name Spencer?" asked the nurse drolly getting the marker ready to write on the bracelet.

"No. First name Pineapple. Middle name Spencer."

"Soooo…Pineapple Spencer Spencer?"

"That's it!" said Shawn confidently, Juliet rolling her eyes.

"Ok?" said the nurse unsurely, finally writing the ridiculous name on the bracelet and securing it around "Pineapple's" tiny wrist.

"I can't believe I let you name our son after a fruit," said Juliet disbelievingly once the nurse had left.

"Just for today," repeated Shawn. "I'll start thinking of real names straightaway. What do you think of Sam Jackson Spencer?"

Juliet only shook her head.

"Luke Perry Spencer?"

"No."

"Ooh! William Zane Spencer?"

"Nuh…" began Juliet before pausing and actually considering the name. "You know, that's not half bad." Shawn's face lit up excitedly. "I'll…think about it," she said, "but keep thinking of other ideas."

"Will do. Hey, do you know what you just said a minute ago?"

"What? You mean that I let you name our son after a fruit?"

"Yeah, but not the delicious yellow fruit part… I mean 'our son.' Our son. We have a son, Jules!" Shawn grinned happily, stroking the baby's soft cheek with his thumb. "I have a son. And my sweet Jules is his mother." He pecked Juliet on the lips. "I'm so glad you're my son's mother, Jules."

Juliet blushed and smiled. "And I'm glad you're my son's father, Shawn. I wouldn't want it to be anyone else." Both new parents became silent, taking in their beautiful perfect baby and enjoying their first moments as a family together; Shawn, Juliet, and…Pineapple.

* * *

**hehehe! Please let me know what you thought!**


	5. San Francisco, Part 1

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

* * *

**This story is post-series and inspired by the Psych series finale, as will be blatantly obvious. Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Her first few months in San Francisco had been bittersweet. On the positive side, she loved her new job and stepped into her new role as head detective quite well. Of course, it helped that Karen was her boss again. It added a bit of comfort and familiarity to a place that might have seemed very foreign. She was kicking ass in her new position too! One successful case closed after another, after another. Of course, she couldn't take all of the credit. Their private consultant, though hugely awkward and pesky in a completely different way than Shawn was, was extremely talented. She had honestly been worried about how she would manage to function without her boyfriend's prodigious skills to back her up, but Mr. Monk had proven to be just as much, if not more, talented. She also considered it fortunate that Mr. Monk's assistant, Natalie Teeger, was light-years more well-behaved than Gus. Not to mention that Natalie was a woman. It was always nice to have a little more estrogen in the pool of testosterone that always infused the police station.

Despite her success, the transition had been difficult. Actually, "difficult" was putting it quite lightly. It had been downright heart-wrenching. She missed Shawn terribly. Coming home to an empty apartment day-after-day was wearing on her. She hadn't even realized how much she had come to depend on him for her sanity and emotional well-being until he wasn't there. They talked on the phone almost every night, and visited as many weekends as they could spare. But it wasn't enough. She needed his embrace. She needed to fall asleep in his arms every night and wake up by his side every morning.

When she did finally get a weekend to spend with Shawn, they ended up spending a majority of the time in the bedroom….making up for lost time, so to speak. Their rendezvous were frantic and intense. They used up every moment re-familiarizing themselves with each other physically and intimately, and left little time for just relaxing and having fun. It should have been no surprise that one of their weekends of tireless love-making had led to the situation that she was now beginning to fear.

It had been six months since she arrived in San Francisco, and for the first time she wasn't on the top of her game anymore. Her partner had noticed. Karen and Natalie had noticed. Even Mr. Monk had noticed. She was distracted. One little thought kept gnawing at her subconscious and sometimes her consciousness, though every time it did pop into her conscious thought she immediately squashed it. The complications that it would bring about, if in fact it were true, were too overwhelming to even consider.

Finally, after a two whole weeks of fretting and avoiding it at all costs, she knew it couldn't be ignored any longer. The realization that she had to deal with it came to her very suddenly. She snuck away from the station mid-morning to the nearest drug store and made the necessary purchase, stuffing it into her purse, returning to the station, and heading straight towards the ladies restroom.

She hadn't even had a chance to reach her destination, when Karen approached her.

"Detective O'Hara? Do you have a minute?" Out in the hustle and bustle of the station, formalities had to be maintained, and so the chief addressed her subordinate by her title, though as soon as the two reached the privacy of Karen's office all sense of formality was dropped and she could address her friend by her first name.

"Juliet…" Karen began, concern on her features. "How is everything?"

It was such an open ended question. Juliet stuttered nervously, hoping not to reveal the current sense of panic she was experiencing. "Uh…good. Everything is fine…" she half-lied. She, of course, didn't have any complaints about her job. It was her personal life that she was struggling with at the moment. She knew she wasn't obligated to discuss her personal concerns with her boss. However…Karen was also her friend. "What is this about?" she asked innocently, pretending not to be perfectly aware that Karen had noticed that something was off.

"Juliet, let's not beat around bush," Karen said candidly. "It's quite obvious that something is bothering you. As long as it is affecting your performance, it is my responsibility as your boss to address it. More importantly, it is my responsibility as your friend to offer my assistance if there is anything I can do to help you with whatever it is."

Juliet gave a small, tense smile. She was appreciative of Karen's compassion but wasn't sure what, if anything, she was ready to share with anyone…even someone she trusted as much as Karen.

"I have to ask," Karen continued. "Are you having second thoughts?"

The question was a bit startling. Juliet hadn't even considered that Karen might have been considering that as any explanation for her recent behavior. "Of course not!"

"You're sure about that?"

"Yes! Karen, I love this job! I think that I've proved that over the past six months. I wouldn't want to give it up for anything!"

"…except maybe one thing?" Karen suggested. "Or more specifically, one person?"

"Shawn…" Juliet clarified. Karen nodded.

"Am I wrong in guessing that being away from him all of this time has been weighing on you?"

"No, you wouldn't." That was the truth. "Doing this thing long distance has been hard on both of us…almost unbearable." Juliet felt her face redden and tears burning in the back of her eyes. Even talking about it was hard. "But…both of us know that it isn't permanent…" She paused as she thought of how to explain to Karen why they were even doing this long distance at all.

"It seems to me that at least one of you is going to have to sacrifice something to make that happen," Karen reasoned.

Juliet nodded. "Shawn wanted to come with me from the very beginning. He insisted, actually. I told him to stay…just until he was sure that he was ready. I didn't want him to make a hasty decision. He would have been leaving Gus and his Dad behind for me. I just wanted to make sure he wasn't going to regret it later."

"So, would it be fair to say that you've grown tired of waiting for him…worried that he may never come around and finally follow you up here? Maybe you've grown apart a bit?"

"No!" She hadn't really thought of it that way, but when presented to her she had to wonder if she did sort of feel that way…at least subconsciously. "Yes…not really. I suppose there is a part of me that worries whether Shawn is capable of making such a weighty decision. M..m..maybe I made a mistake telling him to stay, but…no, we haven't grown apart. I guess I…I…"

She contemplated whether she should just go ahead and tell Karen her concerns. She sure could use the support. The problem was, she hadn't even said it out loud to herself yet. Juliet closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before deciding that the best thing she could do for herself was to open up and allow her friend to help her through this. "I…I'm saying that we just can't be apart anymore. It doesn't matter whether he is ready or not, I need him to be with me right now more than ever…" There was a long pause during which she stuttered incoherently until she finally got to the point and just blurted it out. "I…I think I'm pregnant."

Karen's eyebrows lifted and her jaw slackened. It wasn't exactly what she expected to hear, but at least it seemed to explain a lot. "Does Shawn know about this?"

Juliet shook her head. "I didn't want to tell him unless I knew for sure. I just picked up a test today. I haven't taken it yet."

A comforting smile stretched across Karen's face. She wanted to make sure Juliet realized that her situation wasn't the end of the world…that in fact it could be a very joyous occasion. She could see that Shawn and Juliet loved each other fiercely, and though she expected Shawn might experience an initial shock at such news, in the long run he would be immensely happy about this and would make a deeply loving and supportive father. She knew that they were going to be just fine…better than fine. But all of that aside, there was no use jumping to any conclusions until she knew for sure. "Well, first things first, you've gotta take that test."

"Yeah," agreed Juliet, nodding adamantly. "I'm going to do it right now." She started to get out of her chair, but stopped before even standing up, gripping onto the armrests. Saying she was going to do it and actually striking up the courage to go and do it were two very different things.

"Is something wrong?" Karen questioned.

"I'm scared," Juliet admitted honestly. "Karen…I know this is probably a little awkward…you being my boss and all, but I don't really want to do this alone and I wondered if you wouldn't mind…"

"You want me to be there when you look at it."

She nodded. "Yeah…if that's ok?"

"I'd be happy to," said Karen compassionately. "Bring it back here when you're done and we'll look at it together."

Juliet sighed a sigh of partial relief and finally plucked up the courage to stand up and head to the ladies room. It took her a good ten minutes to do it. She was so nervous, she was shaking and had a hard time even reading the instructions. When it was done, she closed up the test, put it back in the box and discreetly tucked it in her purse before sprinting back to Karen's office. She immediately gave the box to Karen and started pacing, her breathing erratic.

"Juliet," said Karen almost sternly, grabbing both of her arms to stop her pacing. "You know, no matter what the result, everything is going to work out." Juliet shook her head from side-to-side. That seemed very hard to believe at the moment. "Juliet, have you thought about whether you want to have children?"

It seemed an odd question to be asking right now…as if she had a choice at this point. "Of course I have!"

"And?"

"I do. I want to have children. I just don't know if…"

Karen interrupted before Juliet's tone could become frantic. "What about Shawn, does he want them?"

"I don't know…I…think he probably does. We haven't seriously talked about it, but he's mentioned in passing…our future children. I just don't think he's ready for…"

Karen interrupted again. "Do you love him?"

"Yes. Yes! Of course I do. What kind of question is that?!"

"Juliet, please stay calm," Karen soothed. "Does he love you?"

"I…yeah. He does. I know he does."

"Then that's all you need." Juliet paused, curious over Karen's words. "It's not going to matter whether you two start a family now or twelve years from now, you are going to be so in love with each other and with your child, and any other children you might have. Both of you. The circumstances will always work themselves out for best. All you have to do is keep loving each other."

Tears of realization and love for Shawn welled up in Juliet's eyes, though she still shook her head, not yet convinced that such scenario was possible…wanting it desperately, but still not sure.

"Look, Juliet, I've had the pleasure of knowing both of you as long as you've known each other, and I could tell– I think even before you did – that Shawn is crazy about you. Sure, the timing is awkward right now…it might be a bit of a shock to him at first, but I know he is going to be so tremendously happy about this, and he is going to come right here to be with you as soon as you tell him, and he is not going to regret it…not one bit."

"Are you sure?"

"Shawn is a little slow on the uptake sometimes. He's hesitant because he doesn't want to mess things up with you. But if he says he wants to be here with you, then I believe that's what he truly wants. I think he'll be glad to have a reason not to stay behind anymore."

"Wha…what about Gus…and Henry?"

"They'll be fine. Their relationships with Shawn will not end just because there are 200 miles between them. And they've got lives to move on with too. They don't need Shawn holding them back any more than Shawn needs them holding him back. They don't need to see each other every day to maintain a meaningful relationship. But you and Shawn do."

Karen's wise words spoke to Juliet, enlightening her to see everything in a different way. She didn't have to feel like she was ripping Shawn away from his life in Santa Barbara. His life was with her now, and hers with him. His future was wherever she was going to be, and possibly…their child. She felt immensely calmer now and was so glad that she had decided to tell Karen. She didn't know how she would have handled this on her own.

"I think the test should be ready now," said Karen softly. She handed the box back to Juliet, who hesitated to receive it.

"Can you look at it first?" Juliet asked apprehensively.

Karen did the honors, removing the test from the box without disinclination and looking confidently at the result. She couldn't stop a broad smile from forming on her face as she handed the test quietly to Juliet.

Juliet took it slowly and prepared herself with one deep breath, her gaze resting on the deep red plus-sign. "It's positive," she said hoarsely. "It's positive," she repeated more forcefully as if she needed to make herself believe it. "I'm going to have a baby." She smiled deeply and began to cry at the same time.

"Congratulations Momma," Karen said, hugging Juliet tightly and allowing her to bury her teary face into her shoulder. She chuckled to herself as she realized she'd have to find some way to explain why her shoulder was all wet when she got to the meeting that she was 5 minutes late for.

* * *

Karen gave her the rest of the day off, and suggested she try to get an appointment with the doctor as soon as she could. It turned out the doctor that she suggested was able to get her in that very afternoon, and confirmed that she was indeed six weeks pregnant and that so far everything appeared to be normal and healthy. As infrequently as she and Shawn had been able to see each other, the timeline allowed her to know exactly her conception date, and she remembered that day happily. It had been one of those perfect days. No interruptions. No frustrations. Just she and Shawn, relishing in each other's company. They had stayed in bed for hours, enjoying the warmth of their bodies and of the sun shining on them, coming in through stark beams from the window.

Shawn had plans to visit in a few more days, and she decided she'd tell him then. She hoped he wouldn't sense something different about her when they talked on the phone before then. He called that very evening while she was preparing dinner, and she tried her best to sound like nothing had changed. Almost immediately she could tell that this wasn't one of their everyday phone calls. His tone was urgent and determined. He started by saying that he wasn't going to visit the coming weekend, to which Juliet swiftly offered to reverse roles and come to see him. She just couldn't imagine waiting even another week, and telling him over the phone was out of the question. Her stomach dropped at the words that followed.

"_I can't do this anymore. It's too hard. It's freakin' impossible!"_

In those brief moments, she thought her worst fear was coming true. He was going to break up with her. "What are you saying, Shawn?" she said, barely able to keep her voice even.

"_I'm saying I'm moving to San Francisco to be with you."_

In that moment she thought she'd die of relief and resisted the urge to shout and leap for joy. At the drop of a hat, she'd switched from her most deepest state of dread to sheer elation. He was coming! He was coming to stay. It was almost as if he knew that it was exactly what she needed right now…to know that he was coming because he was ready and not because he had to. Unless he really was a psychic, there was no way that he could know the reason why she absolutely needed him to be with her permanently, yet he was coming to stay.

She didn't even have to wait until the weekend to see him. He showed up randomly at one of her crime scenes only two days later. She could have been anywhere in the city, but he had somehow tracked her down. He never ceased to amaze her. To her surprise, Gus managed to find both of them and through a very long-winded story during which Shawn stood on the dead body and Gus revealed that children terrified him (Juliet had to take a nervous breath), he revealed that he too was moving to San Francisco.

Everything was falling into place. Shawn was coming to be with her, and he didn't even have to lose his best friend in the process. It was all the better for herself too, since Gus had become like a brother to her over the years. She knew that Gus was part of what made Shawn who he was, and she wanted Shawn as he was, Gus and all.

Juliet hadn't even had a chance to share her news with Shawn – in fact, they had barely left the crime scene – when suddenly, there he was on his knee presenting her with his grandmother's ring. Karen was right. Hell! She was so right. The circumstances would fall into place. Juliet was so certain that her life with Shawn was happening just as it should that she wasn't even phased when that no-good thief snatched her ring mid-proposal.

* * *

"Shawn?" probed Juliet softly, finally admiring his grandmother's ring on her finger. After two days, a car chase, an actual Mexican standoff, and Shawn's first ever break down on San Francisco soil, they had finally recovered the stolen ring and finished their proposal in view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Juliet's ear-to-ear smile briefly left her face and was replaced by an apprehensive gaze. Her voice came out cheesily intimate with a hint of nervous hesitation.

"Yes, Jules," Shawn answered, his arms wrapped fully around her. His response was as joyful and lighthearted as his proposal voice had been. He couldn't see Juliet's expression, as her head was resting on his chest.

Juliet could only think that she should have told him earlier, but the proposal had come about so unexpectedly, and she didn't want to ruin the moment. Then the next two days had been so crazy, it just never seemed the right time. A couple of times she had even had to rescue Karen from spoiling the surprise.

Juliet stumbled over the next few words, not yet ready to look him in the eye. "Shawn, you meant what you said about wanting kids?" she asked.

"Of course I did, long before 60, right?"

"Right." She lifted her head to glance at Shawn's face, just enough to try and gauge whether he was catching on, but not yet looking him fully in the eye. He still seemed to be blissfully unaware. "When, though?" she asked.

"Well…" said Shawn working on a plan in his head. "Let's see…I guess we need to pick a date for the wedding first…hopefully not too far in the future. I'm not sure how long I can wait to marry you…" He flashed a little grin at her and she smiled back. "…but not so soon that we can't book Curt Smith to play. Next we could go on an extended honeymoon. I'm thinking Europe…stop in London and visit Desperaux."

"Desperaux's in London?!"

"You didn't hear that…! Uh, let's see…when we get back we'll get a dog named Bartholomew and put in a few month's practice…maybe babysit Princess Lassie a time or two, and whenever we are ready…whenever we feel it's right…we'll start trying."

Juliet nodded slowly and hesitantly, not so obviously agreeing with him.

"What's wrong?" Shawn asked, suddenly getting a bit tense.

"Uh…nothing…" Juliet started with a miniscule shakiness to her voice. "I was just wondering what you thought about starting sooner than that…?"

"You want to start right after the wedding?" Shawn asked, though he didn't appear to be opposed to the idea.

"No…" Juliet took a deep breath, getting a little frustrated that Shawn wasn't catching on. "More like…now."

"Now? Jules, I'm looking forward to the baby-making process too, but don't you at least want to wait until after the wedding? …We can set a date real soon if that's what you want."

"No, Shawn," she sighed impatiently. For someone as observant as he was, he really could be dense sometimes. "I'm trying to tell you that it's too late for that…" Shawn stood still as a rock and just stared at Juliet, his brain working overtime to try to make sense of his fiancée. "We're already going to have a baby, Shawn." There was a long pause where Shawn still didn't move a muscle. Juliet wasn't even sure she saw him blink. "I'm pregnant." Another several seconds…

The first thing that came out of Shawn's mouth was a single nervous chuckle. "You're…you're…you're pregnant…already?" Juliet nodded, hoping that his reaction would improve if she just gave him time to process it. She waited. "We're having a baby now? Soon?" he probed, still showing neither positive nor negative emotion.

"In approximately seven and a half months…"

Shawn laughed again, first nervously, but as he took in his fiancée standing before him, suddenly with a gorgeous new glow about her, and he thought of the child he created with her…a child that he would be meeting in several short months…he cracked an enormous smile and his laughter became joyful. He picked her up and swung her around. "Jules! We're gonna have a kid!"

"Yes, Mr. Spencer. You are going to be a Daddy!" Her laughter mirrored his.

"Holy Crap! I'm going to be a Dad!" His realization didn't quench his happiness, though. In fact, it multiplied it. "You are so freakin' amazing, Jules!"

"You're ok with this? You aren't mad?"

"No, Jules, I'm not mad! How could I be mad?! Ten minutes ago, I thought this day couldn't possibly get any better than it already was…and now…and now you just made it 1000 times better! Juliet O'Hara, you already know that I want to marry you…and that will happen, as soon as you want. But just as much, I want to have this baby with you. I'm serious! I will give birth to it if you want me too.

"I don't think that's possible, Shawn," Juliet quipped.

"Ok, so I can't do that part, but I want to do everything else. I want to go with you to your appointments, and to hold back your hair when you need to puke, and go out in the middle of the night to get you tacos and orange marmalade, and let you squeeze my hand as tight as you want as you push our kid out of your…" Juliet crumbled her nose. "I'll handle late night feedings, and dirty diapers, and teach him or her all of the lyrics to every Tears for Fears song…"

The happy couple grasped hands as they turned and strolled along the beach, Shawn continuing to tell his fiancée everything he planned to do as a father. Of course they would get married and they'd start their life together in a new city, but they'd just have to work it around their new arrival.

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**I wasn't exactly sure how long Jules had been in SF before the proposal, so I made a guess. Please review!**


	6. San Francisco, Part 2

**Not much to say today. Just another story for ya!**

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**SAN FRANCISO: PART 2**

Shawn drove Juliet's Beetle through the suburban streets of Marin County just outside of the San Francisco city center. He drove slowly since it was a bright and sunny Saturday afternoon and plenty of happy couples were out walking, joggers jogging, and children riding bicycles along the street. He also drove slowly because his heart was racing with anxiety and he felt as if he might either pass out or start screaming in panic at any moment. Next to him in the passenger seat Juliet didn't appear to be doing much better. She had been unsettlingly quiet the entire ride home and now she was facing the road ahead of them seemingly staring right through it.

Finally he pulled the car up to their home. They had only moved into the picturesque suburban rental home the previous weekend, after Shawn had finally transported his single carful of personal items from Santa Barbara. They had chosen the property carefully. In addition to being an easy commute from the SFPD by rail or car, it was also in one of the safest neighborhoods they could find and had some of the best schools and daycares for raising children. The home itself was a modest, quaint, and recently renovated 2.5 bedroom complete with a soft beige siding, red brick façade, old-timey shutters, and a picket fence. It was really the picket fence that was the selling point. Shawn had never heard of any happy suburban family fantasy that didn't somehow involve a picket fence.

Neither Shawn nor Juliet made an immediate move to get out the car when it was finally stopped and the engine turned off. The events of the previous half-hour had them stunned. Juliet was seemingly paralyzed in her seat. It wasn't clear whether she was even actually aware of where she was at the moment. Shawn gazed disbelieving at their home in front of them. He looked briefly around him and at his fiancée trying to determine whether all of this was really happening or if it was just some crazy dream that he would wake up from and laugh about over a stack of chocolate chip pancakes. He pinched himself just to make sure.

"Ow!" No. It definitely wasn't a dream.

Juliet's head finally turned towards Shawn when she heard him yelp in pain, though she didn't jump in surprise or scold Shawn for being stupid enough to pinch himself. In fact, she had been wanting to do the very same thing. She also seemed to have gone mute at some point along the ride home. There were so many thoughts swirling around in her head right now that her brain couldn't process whatever it needed to do to get those thoughts past her lips. Luckily Shawn didn't seem to be having that problem. He looked into her eyes and seeing the apprehension behind them said what he knew to be true even though he was having a hard time believing it himself.

"You know it's going to be ok. We can do this." Juliet nodded only to indicate that she had heard him. It in no way indicated that she believed him. "It's a shock. It's a lot to take in right now, but pretty soon we are going to as excited about this as Kevin McAllister when he finds out he's _Home Alone_." She nodded again. "Come on. Let's go inside. We'll take a hot shower, order in some pizza, and relax on the couch with a movie." Still unable to speak, she nodded again, this time indicating that Shawn's suggestion was spot-on and she really didn't want to do anything else for the rest of the day...maybe the rest of the weekend.

As they got out of the car and walked across the lawn to the front door, neither of them noticed the familiar vehicles parked along the street; a dark blue Ford Fusion, a beat-up formerly white pick-up truck, and a driver's ed sedan with two steering wheels, among several others.

Shawn placed a hand at the small of Juliet's back as he led her towards the door. He then fumbled with his key ring until he found the correct key, inserted it into the lock, opened the door, and gestured for Juliet to enter first. Once they were both inside, they were suddenly startled by a crowd of people yelling "surprise!" They were flabbergasted to see everyone in the world that they cared about standing before them. Henry and Madeline, Maryanne and Lloyd, Chief Vick and her family, as well as the newly formed Lassiter clan. Even Juliet's new partner and friends from the station, Mr. Monk, Natalie, and Natalie's daughter Julie, had joined them. Gus stood in the forefront of all of them, with a proud grin on his face. Clearly, he was the instigator in all of this.

Normally, Shawn would have been ecstatic for a totally unanticipated party. Well actually, Shawn would normally have guessed that Gus was planning something before he even knew he was planning it himself. But Shawn had been pre-occupied lately, and right now he was a little too shaken to appreciate the sentiment. All he could really handle right now was a quiet evening with Juliet to sort out his thoughts and from the look on her face he thought that that was about as much as she could handle right now too.

"What is this?!" Shawn demanded, his tone causing everyone's smiles to straighten.

Gus, who had his arms raised for the "surprise," put them down. "It's a surprise house-warming-slash-engagement party," he answered. "Is there something wrong?"

The looks of disappointment on his loved one's faces, especially Gus's, made Shawn feel suddenly guilty for his reaction, and his expression turned sympathetic. After all, Gus had no idea about the little piece of news that Juliet had told him after his second successful attempt at the proposal. Gus had to return to Santa Barbara to collect his belongings before Shawn could tell him. Furthermore, he had only informed Gus that he would be spending Saturday morning on the town with Juliet, not that they would actually be going to their first obstetrics appointment. He didn't know that that's where they would be coming from when they arrived home this afternoon.

"No. Nothing's wrong, buddy," said Shawn. "You just caught me by surprise. That's all." Shawn forced a smile and looked to all of his guests. "We're glad you're all here. Really. Aren't we, Jules?"

When he looked at his fiancée, he was sure she too would force a smile and agree. But she didn't. Instead, looking as if she might cry, she turned wordlessly toward the stairs and started up them towards the bedroom. Maryanne stepped forward as if deciding whether to follow her daughter upstairs.

"Julie dear? Are you ok, sweetheart?" She got no reply.

Karen, being the only one aware of Juliet's condition and where the couple had just been, was the only one able to make a guess as to what her odd behavior was about, and her eyes widened with concern for what might or might not have happened at the doctor's office.

* * *

30 MINUTES EARLIER

The initial exam had gone swimmingly, Dr. Feigenson gushing over how healthy her patient was and expressing that she expected nothing but a healthy pregnancy for Juliet. She then informed the expectant parents that she was going to do a routine ultrasound just to confirm that the baby's development was progressing normally and to give the excited couple the opportunity to see their little bundle of joy for themselves.

She set up the machine and got Juliet positioned with gel on her stomach. She moved the wand around back forth until she finally stopped it in one spot.

"Oh, there it is!" she said happily pointing to a tiny spot on the monitor. Shawn and Juliet leaned forward and squinted at the screen. To Shawn it just looked like a white piece of fuzz on a black background, but he supposed the doctor knew what she was looking at.

Dr. Feigenson moved the wand around a little more, before cocking her head curiously. "Hmm…" she said to herself while seeming to try to make sense of something she was looking at. Shawn and Juliet shared an apprehensive look.

"Is something wrong?" Juliet asked while Shawn swallowed nervously.

The doctor, now appearing to have figured something out, smiled and said, "No. Not at all. Everything is perfect. But there is something I want to show you." She moved the wand back to where she had had it previously and pointed her finger at the screen. "See this thing here." She circled it with her finger and both Shawn and Juliet nodded. "That's a head. These are arms and legs, and that blinking light is a heartbeat."

"Wooowww! That's amazing! That's our baby, Jules!" said Shawn leaning further over Juliet to see it better. Juliet smiled deeply and even giggled a bit when she saw that Shawn's eyes began to glisten.

Dr. Feigenson moved the wand again and pointed to another location. "And see here," she said, "there is another heartbeat." Juliet's face dropped immediately and her eyes widened with something close to horror as she realized what the doctor was telling her. Shawn only looked confused.

"So wait…are you saying our baby has two hearts?" Shawn asked.

"No," laughed Dr. Feigenson. "See here." She pointed again. "Along with this heartbeat is another head and four more limbs." She grinned.

"Oh my God!" Shawn exclaimed. "Jules, our kid has two heads! It's a Cyclops!" Juliet sat silently gaping at the screen.

"Actually, a Cyclops is a one-headed creature with only one eye," Dr. Feigenson pointed out.

"Who cares about semantics right now. My kid has two heads and some innumerable number of limbs. It's going to look like one of those freaky Indian gods with arms sticking out of their ears and other places arms shouldn't be!"

"Mr. Spencer, I don't think you know what 'semantics' means. And no, your child does not have two heads or additional limbs. What you have are two perfectly normal babies each with the appropriate number of body parts."

"Twins," said Juliet barely above a whisper.

"Wha…huh? What?" Shawn stuttered, looking back forth between Dr. Feigenson and his unmoving, unblinking fiancée.

"Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Spencer. You're expecting a healthy set of twins."

Shawn's eyes rolled back into his sockets and the last thing he heard before falling backwards, unconscious, was Juliet yelling, "Shawn!"

Once awakening from his fainting spell, Shawn thanked the doctor, took a still speechless Juliet by the hand, and led her to the car. She hadn't said a word the entire ride home.

It wasn't that they weren't happy, per se. They were both excited about becoming parents. But they had been worried about how they would manage _one_ child with their unpredictable schedules. The prospect of having two was just too hard to imagine.

* * *

"She's alright," Shawn explained to Maryanne, Karen and the crowd of party-goers in front of him. "Just…uh…make yourselves at home for a bit. I'll just…go talk to her." Shawn turned awkwardly and sprinted up the stairs, leaving a perplexed group of people behind him.

He found her sitting on the bed, hugging a pillow to herself.

"Jules?" said Shawn comfortingly, sitting himself on the bed in front of her. "Are you alright?"

"No. No, Shawn. I'm not alright!" she started, her voice panicky and shaky.

"Shh," Shawn soothed, taking her hands in his.

"How can I possibly be alright, Shawn," she said shaking her head. "…Twins? Twins, Shawn! Two babies. I'm head detective of the SFPD. I work ungodly hours and barely get enough sleep as it is. How am I supposed to care for two babies on top of that?"

Shawn almost scoffed. "Jules, you're not doing this on your own, you know. I'll be helping too." He said this almost sarcastically indicating that 'helping' was a huge understatement. Of course she had to realize that he was in this as much as she was.

"I know, Shawn…I didn't mean…" she said apologetically. "I just…I'm scared, Shawn. I don't know the first thing about being a mother. When I thought we'd be having just one, I thought that it would be ok…that I…we…could figure it out…together. But two? I just don't know how we are going to do it…"

"Neither do I," said Shawn honestly, to which Juliet frowned. "But…we will. I promise you. We'll figure it out. Everything is going to work out…"

"How do you know?" she said, a tear finally escaping from her eye. Shawn wiped the tear from her cheek with his thumb.

"The same way I know that Gus is going to get over his addiction to Cadbury caramel eggs this year." Juliet couldn't resist a chuckle. "And because…you and I…we're not in this alone either. Did you see all of those people downstairs? Today, they all came here for us…just to celebrate the fact that we've decided to spend our lives together…most of them coming from a distance just to be here! Jules, we have a whole circle of people who care about us and they sure as hell won't let us fail at this. We're going to be fine…better than fine actually."

Juliet nodded and smiled softly. She knew he was right. She knew deep down that everything was going to be ok. She just hadn't gotten over the initial shock yet.

Shawn's expression was suddenly thoughtful as some sort of fantasy began to run through his mind. "We should be ecstatic Jules! Just think about it. In one shot, we've managed to reproduce twice over. We must really be in love to be able to do that."

Juliet laughed. "I'm not sure how much love has to do with that part, but I suppose you're right."

"Just imagine the possibilities. If we have two boys, we can name them Zack and Cody and they can live in an upscale Manhattan hotel and get themselves into all sorts of hijinks worthy of only the best pre-teen entertainment."

"I think you've been watching too much Disney Channel, Shawn," teased Juliet, her mood finally starting to lighten a bit. Sometimes it only took a little bit of Shawn's humor to get her through.

"…And if they are two girls," Shawn continued, "we'll never have to worry about splitting up, because they'll just switch identities and dance and sing us back together."

"Again, too much Disney."

"…And maybe we will have one of each, and then when they are teenagers, we'll move to Beverly Hills, and we can be proud that our kids are the only down-to-earth kids in their school. That is…until they spend too much time with all of those spoiled rotten trust-fund kids and turn into a couple of self-righteous brats…"

Juliet's face crumbled in distaste.

"Ok…that's a bad example. But that can easily be remedied by NOT moving our kids to the most stuck-up zip code on the planet. If only someone had told that to Jim and Cindy Walsh two decades ago."

"Ok, I understand," giggled Juliet, finally calmer. "We have some challenges ahead of us, but we have a lot to look forward to too. We'll have two kids who not only have us, but they'll always have each other. They'll never be lonely. And they'll share a closeness that most people don't ever get to experience. They might even be closer that you and Gus."

"I'm not sure anyone can get closer than me and Gus and not be literally joined at the hip," said Shawn.

"That's probably true," agreed Juliet.

Cupping Juliet's face in his hand and brushing her remaining tears with his thumb, Shawn encouraged further, "You'll see. This is going to be exciting and fun and…wonderful!" He kissed her softly and leaned his forehead on hers. They sat silently for a few moments. "Whadya say? You wanna go downstairs and have a party with some of our most favorite people in the world…and Lassie?"

Juliet rolled her eyes and nodded. "Yes. Should we tell them?"

"Do you want to?"

"I do," she said confidently.

"Ok, then. Let's do it," said Shawn, taking her hand and leading her down the stairs.

Everyone, who had been sitting patiently during their talk, stood up expectantly when the couple finally descended the stairs hand-in-hand.

Juliet looked at the crowd of her loved ones, feeling a bit guilty for how she had just left them standing there disappointed earlier. "I'm sorry," she said first off. "I didn't mean to be rude. It's just…" Juliet trailed off unsure of how to begin. All of the eyes looking at her were making her nervous.

Shawn took the liberty to continue for her. "It's just that Jules I received some very big news this morning. That and a surprise party was a little more unexpectedness than we were prepared to handle in one day."

All eyes continued to stare at them curiously, especially Gus's.

"What is it, dear?" said Maryanne to her daughter.

Juliet blushed as she placed a hand on her stomach. "Shawn and I are…expecting."

Gasps sounded around the room, but before the gasps could turn into cheers, Shawn cut in. "Jules and I are going to have a couple of babies."

"A couple?" asked Gus confusedly while everyone's jaws dropped.

"Twins," said Juliet. "Shawn and I are expecting twins."

Several cheers and "Oh my God's" erupted from the crowds, while others, including Henry and Gus stood speechless. One by one, starting with Maryanne, Madeline, and then Karen everyone hugged and congratulated their friends.

"Well, I guess that makes this a house-warming-slash-engagement-slash-new babies party," said Gus when it was his turn to approach his friends. "Congratulations buddy," he said hugging his best friend tightly.

Shawn noticed Lassiter, who was still standing agape with his infant daughter in his arms. He hadn't yet gotten over the shock of his beloved ex-partner carrying two Spencer babies.

"That's right Lassie," said Shawn. "That little beauty you've got there is quite impressive, but I make mine two at a time."

"I…I can't believe…" mumbled Lassiter. He handed off Lily to Marlowe and immediately approached Juliet and pulled her into a tight hug. "Congratulations, O'Hara," he said sincerely. "And Spencer," he added, first patting Shawn on the back, and then with a "what the hell" pulled him into a hug too.

"OK, let's celebrate!" exclaimed Shawn clapping his hands together as the crowd dispersed into chatter and headed for the dining table filled with food. As Shawn followed, he pulled Juliet into his side and kissed the top of her head. "Here we go, sweetheart. Life begins."

Juliet smiled and nuzzled into Shawn's side, knowing that everything would be alright and wonderful.

* * *

**Thanks for reading and please review!**


	7. Luke Jones, Part 1

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

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**Never fear! "San Franciso" will continue. I am working on it. But in the meantime, I'd like to present to you the first installment of the third story in this series. "Luke Jones" is an AU fic. Essentially, the story begins towards the end of season 4, probably right after "A Very Juliet Episode." Everything before that happens as scripted but everything after that doesn't exist. The story actually begins with a jump to a few years into the future but will flash back to that time just around the end of season 4.**

**I hope you enjoy!**

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SUMMER 2015

Luke Jones wasn't really Luke Jones. Or at least he hadn't always been Luke Jones. He had only been Luke Jones for the five years since he left the west coast and had settled in the largest city in the country, the absolute best place for someone to become lost in the crowd, lost to the world, and even lost to oneself. Not that Luke Jones wanted to forget who he used to be. His life three thousand miles away had just been starting to get good.

For the first time in his life, he had finally held a job for longer than a few weeks…if what he was doing could be called a job. Sure, it brought in paychecks here and there, but most of the time he spent goofing around with his life-long best friend, engaging in X-box tournaments and making frequent runs to the smoothie shop. In addition, after several long years of his dad making it quite clear that he had become a major disappointment, their relationship was finally starting to make strides in the positive direction. And last but not least, he had finally been able to snag (sort of) that beautiful blonde colleague of his that he had been pining over since the day she stole his seat in the diner. She had not-so-purposely played hard-to-get for the nearly four full years that they had known each other and with each day and each rejection, he only grew fonder of her. They had become friends, been through hell together, and grew closer, until finally they had reached the stage that, if he was writing a book on relationships, would be titled "Ok, we're not sure what we are, but we are obviously more than friends." He was sure that given just a week or two more, she'd be calling him her boyfriend.

So no, he didn't come to New York to escape his old life. He came because it was the only way to save himself and everyone he cared about. He had given up that life and left the people that he loved behind, probably never to see them again, to become someone else. The person he used to be could not be allowed to exist anymore. He could never let slip even the tiniest indication of who he used to be. That person was a marked man. He saw and knew too much. He knew that if he even attempted to connect with that life, much less return to it, he would be dead within the week. And most likely his dad, his best friend, and even the pretty blonde would be eliminated in the process of getting to him.

* * *

Luke exited the 57th street station just on the southern corner of Central Park and made his way through the early morning hustle and bustle to his small place of business. It wasn't much. It didn't even have four walls or a roof, though it did have a very colorful umbrella to block out the beating summer sun, the April rains, and the winter snows. It was just large enough for two people to stand uncomfortably beside it for many long hours a day. But Luke was proud of the business venture that he had begun and maintained on his own. If there was one thing that Luke was most passionate about after, of course, the loved ones he left behind and before 80's pop culture, it was delicious snacks.

No, make that…80's pop culture, then delicious snacks.

And as far as delicious snacks go…wait…80's pop culture, bunnies, then delicious snacks.

…But delicious snacks can't be that far down the list, sooo…delicious snacks, 80's pop culture, and finally bunnies.

Anyway, as far as delicious snacks go, Luke was a master with the mash-ups and his specialty was anything that he could mash-up with a good plump hot dog. Luke Jones's _'Wild Dog-ups' _had become wildly popular on Manhattan streets, snagging them a prime location next to the Friedsam Carousel in Central Park where they sold hundreds of Dog-ups a day to residents and tourists alike. Their best sellers were the Hawaiian Pineapple Dog-up, and the Mash-upped Potatoes and Gravy Dog-Up.

He was running late. Intent on not letting his customers wait, Luke rushed from the station in the direction of his vendor cart, even though he knew that Mandy was probably already on site and already had some dogs roasting. His longish hair that he allowed to grow out even though he preferred it short bounced as he approached the cart and smoothing out his beard, which he also had allowed to adorn his face even though his former self would have refused to do so, he greeted his most trusted employee who was just as expected readying the Dog-up cart for another long day of business.

"Sorry about that Mandy," Luke apologized. "I just missed the earlier train and got here as soon as I could."

"Are you sure you didn't just get distracted with the little boy kittens in _Harold's Pet Store_ display again?" teased Mandy, who Luke was glad shared his sense of humor. It made her all the more pleasant to sell hot dogs with all day. Mandy was a bubbly 22-year old, who had worked nearly full time at the Dog-Up cart since it opened in order to pay her way through college. She had graduated only a few weeks ago and was due to move to Chicago to start her first big-time yuppie job in September. She had become such a permanent fixture at _Wild Dog-Ups_, Luke didn't know how he was going to function without her.

"Just for the record, there are little girl kittens in there too that are just as cute as the boys," Luke argued, "and I swear if you saw them, you wouldn't be able to tear yourself away. Those things are cuter than normal kittens, I tell you. It makes me wonder if _Harold's _been experimenting with genetic engineering on the side in hopes of developing the cutest kittens on earth. And I know you. You'd melt into a puddle in mere seconds at the sight of them and then the gopher-sized sewer rats would come and lick you up."

Mandy shivered. "Eeww! You just had to add that visual in there, didn't you?"

"Of course, because I know how much you love rats," said Luke knowing very well that Mandy was terrified of them.

"I think you're just trying to scare me into not going by _Harold's _to find out that the kittens are not really as cute as you say they are."

"I'm not kidding! Those cats are like _Hello Kitty _on steroids. Not that you need a super kitten for you to melt. I swear I can see you start to liquefy in the presence of an average furry little squirrel...or a Furby."

"Luke, I told you never to bring up the Furby incident again!"

"And I told you I could never agree to that unless Tarantino directs a _'Dukes of Hazzard'- 'Webster' _mash-up flick."

"Ok, whatever," concluded Mandy as she witnessed their first customer making a bee line for the cart. One would be surprised at the number of people who were roaming the park so early in the morning and especially at the number who had no problem eating hot dogs for breakfast. "Customer," she said to Luke nodding towards the woman approaching the cart.

Luke's vision landed on the customer and immediately he felt as if someone had punched him in the stomach. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. He could only focus on the gorgeous woman coming closer and closer to him. He knew that figure, that brisk walk on high heels, the flowing golden locks. She wasn't yet looking in his direction, instead fiddling with purse between glances at the menu, but he was sure once she did he would recognize those piercing blue eyes that he had once gazed into.

"You okay?" Mandy questioned as she noticed Luke become uncharacteristically still.

He didn't answer. Mandy followed his gaze to the woman before them, and scrunched her brows in confusion, wondering who this woman was that suddenly had him mesmerized. Mandy had known Luke for four years and through some innumerable number of short-lived girlfriends and never had she seen him look at a woman like that. She could even dare say that he was "_melting"_, almost literally. It looked as if his legs might give out on him at any second. She prepared herself to catch him just in case.

Finally appearing to have made a decision, the woman turned towards Luke. "Hi. I'll take a Hawaiian Pineapple Dog and a…" She faltered mid-sentence as she studied the shell-shocked face in front of her. "…and a…a…_Shawn?_" The name unfamiliar to Mandy and long-forgotten by Luke exited her lips with a strong sound of uncertainty and disbelief, and her face paled as if she were looking at a ghost.

"_Jules?_"

* * *

They had only arrived in the city via LaGuardia a few hours ago. They had slept much of the previous afternoon at their hotel on the Amalfi Coast - The hotel was literally theirs. Declan had bought it a few years ago. - in preparation for the overnight flight. Juliet wasn't sure why they absolutely had to leave at such an ungodly hour. They had a private jet for goodness sakes! She figured they should be able to leave whenever the hell they wanted. But Declan had spouted off something about schedules and flight plans and restrictions over New York City air routes and said it couldn't be helped.

It was 8:00 AM by the time they finally made it to Manhattan and checked into their luxury suite, but it felt more like early afternoon since they had been up since 2 AM. Declan was tired and a bit grumpy, and she too was tired, but Gracie had slept the whole flight and taxi ride from the airport. Now she was bouncing off the walls and neither Juliet nor Declan were going to get any sleep in until the little girl collapsed at approximately 1 PM. They decided that they might as well spend the morning at the park until that time came, and then they could spend the afternoon napping before their evening on the town.

Gracie had ridden the carousel for the third time, practically getting the ride all to herself due to the early hour, when she announced that she was hungry. Looking around the area, Juliet spotted a hot dog stand in the distance. She smiled briefly as it reminded her of that Ball Park Frank and stroll on the boardwalk she had shared with a special someone all those years ago. She couldn't look at a hot dog any more without that memory popping into her mind. She remembered it with happiness, but also longing and a little sadness. She missed him….but he was gone now. She had grieved and then moved on.

"_Wild Dog-ups_," she read. "They look interesting. Why don't we try one of those?"

Declan made a face. "Hot dogs at 8:30 in the morning? And street vendor hot dogs at that?"

"Sure, why not?" shrugged Juliet. "It feels more like lunch time anyway."

"I wanna hot dog!" the tiny blonde replica of Juliet exclaimed, jumping up and down excitedly and Juliet grinned at her daughter.

"Why don't we find a nice place to sit down and have brunch?" Declan suggested, clearly disliking the idea of eating greasy street food for breakfast, or any meal for that matter.

"But I don't want to leave yet…" Gracie complained. "I want to ride the horsies again." Declan sighed in frustration.

"Come on, Dec," urged Juliet. "There's no use going to a stuffy restaurant when it's such a nice morning. We might as well eat outside and then Gracie can stay and play awhile. You know she's not going to sit still at a restaurant for very long anyway." Juliet gave her best puppy-dog eyes and pouty lip and Gracie imitated her mother. Declan finally cracked a smile, unable to say no to those adorable faces.

"Alright, fine," he laughed. "You two win again."

"Yayyy!" Gracie cheered, her wide smile and blue eyes flashing with a spark that made her look uncannily like her mother.

"Thanks Dec. Why don't you wait here with Gracie while I go grab us a few dogs?" She pecked Declan on the lips and ruffled Gracie's hair before heading towards the hot dog cart. Pulling out her wallet from her purse and inspecting the menu, she quickly decided what each of them would want to eat and turned to the salesman to place her order.

She felt as if her heart stopped in her chest when they landed on those hazel eyes. The long hair and beard were unfamiliar to her, but those hazel eyes were unmistakable.

But… it didn't make any sense. She had seen him walk into that warehouse almost five years ago. She had seen the building explode only moments later. She knew there was no way he could have survived that. She had gone to his funeral and mourned for a good long time. Now suddenly, here he was, standing right in front of her. Knowing that it couldn't really be possible she still said the name, "_Shawn?_" It was only when he responded with her nickname that only he had used, "_Jules?_" that she knew it had to be him.

"Who's Shawn?" asked Mandy, looking back and forth between the two people who were so lost in some sort of staring match that they didn't even seem to acknowledge that she was still standing there.

"But, that's impossible…it can't be…" Juliet said aloud. She shook her head both in denial and as if she were trying to shake herself into reality. But she continued to stare into those familiar eyes, and they didn't disappear. It was just undeniable. "It…it can't really be you. You're…you're…dea –"

"I'm Luke," he interrupted, pointing to the name plate on his chest. "Luke Jones of _Luke Jones's Wild Dog-ups._ That's me. This is my colleague Bathilda Vertigo, he said gesturing towards Mandy, who rolled her eyes at yet another ridiculous name. She had been introduced by several hundred different names by Luke since the day she began working at the Dog-up cart. However, she didn't realize that that gesture spoke volumes to the unfamiliar woman in front of her. "There's no Shawn here," Luke concluded, his eyes still boring into the woman's blue ones as if there was some sort of unspoken conversation happening between them.

Juliet's eyes began to glisten. "It's really you…"

For several silent seconds they continued to gaze at each other until Luke – or was it Shawn? – finally looked away and coughed nervously. "So…you wanted a Hawaiian dog and what else?" he asked getting to business.

Juliet didn't respond right away, wondering why he couldn't acknowledge who he was. "But…can't we –?" she began glancing back at Declan and Gracie, hoping that she could at least spare a few moments and talk to Shawn without them becoming curious as to what was taking so long.

"No, sorry," he said without looking up. "We've got a line." It was true, a few others had filed behind Juliet waiting to order their hot dogs. Juliet told him the rest of her order and silently he and Mandy handed her three dogs and took her money. Juliet left the cart, glancing back a few times, though Shawn – she knew it was him – refused to look at her.

"What was that about?" Mandy chuckled. "And why was she calling you Shawn?"

"Um…just an old girlfriend."

"It seemed like more than that," Mandy observed.

"I'd rather not talk about it," said Shawn in a seriousness uncharacteristic of him. Mandy could tell it wasn't a good idea to pry.

Returning to the carousel with their lunch, Declan noticed Juliet's pale-faced expression. "Everything ok, Honey?"

She nodded. The detective inside her brushing aside what she was feeling and bringing a convincingly sincere smile to her face. "Sure, just fine, Hon." She passed around the hot dogs and pulling out her wallet to stuff the receipt inside, she noticed a familiar handwriting scrawled on the back of it.

"_Maniac meets Fanboy at Wollman, 13:00_"

* * *

**Any guess as to what the message on the reciept means?**


	8. Luke Jones, Part 2

**Don't worry Cupcake, or anyone else who is worrying. I promise you this IS a Shules fic. I'm not a fan of a Declan/Juliet pairing either. I only had to do it to set up this story, but I really think you'll be happy with how it turns out in the end.**

**I don't usually post twice in two days, but I've been on a roll lately and this part was done. So, here ya go.**

* * *

Seeing her again had brought back a flood of memories from that night before he left. Not that he had forgotten about it. He thought about it almost every day. It was the reason why he hadn't been able to move on in the last five years…the reason why any attempt at a relationship with anyone else would fail. No other woman had made him feel anything close to the way he felt about Juliet, and ultimately his thoughts always strayed to that night. But now, seeing her face again had magnified the vividness of the memory to the full extent that his eidetic mind was capable. He watched the scene run through his mind as if watching a 4D movie at an IMAX theater. On top of that he could smell every scent, feel every touch, and experience the flood of emotions that had run through both of them that night…

* * *

_JUNE 17, 2010_

_Shawn was accustomed to finding himself in dangerous situations, and they usually didn't faze him one bit. But today had been different. He wouldn't make it known to anyone, but he was genuinely shaken this time. The bullet had narrowly missed him. A few millimeters to the left and he would currently be lying on a metal slab. But it wasn't so much that fact that troubled him, but the fact that if he hadn't made his move when he did, it could have been Jules on that slab._

_Finally in the privacy of the _Mimi's Fluff and Fold_, a.k.a. his apartment, he slumped onto his bed, rubbing his face with both hands to work out the tenseness that had formed there. He would never have forgiven himself if his actions had led to Juliet's demise…or even if it led to something as minimal as a paper cut. He was stupid. He shouldn't have approached Vinnie DeFelice, especially on his own, unarmed, and in direct violation of Lassiter's orders. But he had underestimated DeFelice's deadliness. If it wasn't for his stupid actions, Juliet wouldn't have had to come to his rescue. She never would have ended up behind the barrel of DeFelice's gun, and Shawn never would have leapt to push her out of the line of fire._

_Shawn sat up when he heard a knock on his door. "Gus, I told you I don't have your "Flock of Seagulls" CD," he yelled, "and unless you've got some nachos or Jack-In-The-Box with you, I'd rather just go to sleep now. Come back tomorrow."_

"_It's not Gus," answered a muffled but distinctly female voice._

_Immediately Shawn was off the bed and at the door in a matter of seconds. The bell that had at one time signaled the entrance of a new dry cleaning customer jingled as he opened the door to find Juliet standing before him._

"_Jules?" he said, dumbfounded. Not only had she never visited him at home before, but it was also late. He figured she would have been sleeping already. Over the last few weeks since he and Abigail had broke it off, the tension between them had been mounting. With their feelings out in the open ever since the night at the drive-in, and now Shawn unattached, it seemed as if one or both of them were waiting for the other to finally make a move._

"_Shawn, I'm sorry if it's too late –" began Juliet with hint of a nervous quiver in her voice._

"_No…no. Don't be silly," said Shawn as he gently took her hand, a bolt of something electric coursing through his veins at the touch. The door jingled again as he closed it. "You're welcome here any time you like….midnights on a Tuesday, Cinco de Mayo, October 14, 1982…Governor's Day…"_

"_What's Governor's Day?"_

"_I don't know, Jules. Isn't it one of those bank holidays? You're the civil servant here. You should know these things."_

"_I don't think Governor's Day is a thing, Shawn," said Juliet with a soft laugh. "…at least not in Santa Barbara."_

"_Well that's a bummer," Shawn frowned. "We celebrate mothers, and presidents, and even flags. If we can celebrate an inanimate object, it seems we should at least show the governor our appreciation just one day a year."_

"_Yeah…" Juliet agreed, though the way she said it, it was apparent that she was ready to put a stop to the banter and get to the reason why she had come. A few moments of awkward silence passed between the two, before both spoke at once._

"_Jules…"_

"_Shawn…"_

"_You go first," Juliet offered._

_Shawn sighed, dropping his head shamefully and pacing for a few steps before looking her in the eye and apologizing, "Jules, I'm sorry about today. I'm sorry I ignored Lassie and approached DeFelice. I'm sorry I put you in danger. I was stupid. I would die if anything happened to you, Jules." He hadn't intended to voice such a strong statement, but there it was, and he knew it was true._

_Juliet took a step closer and Shawn could begin to feel her energy in his personal space. His heart fluttered. "It's ok, Shawn. Admittedly, it was a stupid move, but I know you didn't mean any harm. And truth-be-told, for those few moments that I thought you had been hit…I almost died myself."_

_Neither of them aware of how it happened, they had come to be standing very close now. They weren't touching, though they could each feel their breaths on each other's faces and a slight tingling radiating from the other's body. As if it was the most natural thing in the world, Juliet brought her hand to Shawn's cheek, caressing gently as she spoke. "I realized that I don't know what I'd do if I lost you...that's why I couldn't sleep tonight. I just can't have either of us leaving this world without the chance to…" She lost her train of thought as her gaze rested on Shawn's lips and her thumb brushed the bottom one gently. Shawn let out a small moan._

"_Without a chance to what, Jules?"_

_Finding it easier to show, rather than say what she meant, she brought her lips to Shawn's and hovered, reveling in the feeling of his warm breath as it sent butterflies to her stomach. Shawn closed his eyes and his breath quickened. Finally, for the first time, their lips met fully and began to move against each other. Juliet's arms circled Shawn's shoulders and her fingers played with the small hairs at the back of his head. Shawn's hands found their way to Juliet's back, caressing it in small circles._

_Both of them had done their share of kissing in the past, and yet the experience was entirely new. It was as if their bodies were molded for each other, and that they were each imbued with the ability to know instinctively what the other liked. It was perfection._

_Soon their tongues found each other and their hands and lips wandered more daringly, until eventually their clothes found the floor and, as one, their bodies found the bed._

* * *

"_Hey there," Shawn greeted through a yawn, as his eyes opened and adjusted to the morning sun. Juliet was already awake and appeared to have been watching Shawn sleep, an adoring grin on her face._

"_Good morning," she said, placing a light kiss on Shawn's lips._

"_Good morning," said Shawn, smiling at Jules and tucking her mussed hair behind her ear. His gaze lingered on her smooth skin and bright eyes…her tantalizing lips. He could hardly believe that she was here in front of him…in his bed. "God, you are beautiful!" he said, causing her skin to blush red. "…and last night was…"_

"_Wow…" she completed for him._

"_Yeah, just…WOW."_

"_I don't know why we waited so long to do that," Juliet mused._

"_Because we are both complete idiots," Shawn answered. "Sooo…does that mean you would be up for another round?" he winked._

_Juliet giggled. "I'd love to Shawn, but unfortunately I need to be getting up. I have work in an hour and I need to go home and get dressed first." She pouted playfully._

"_Clothes are so over-rated," joked Shawn. _

"_I couldn't agree more, but unfortunately the department doesn't feel the way we do." Juliet pulled away from Shawn and looked at the ceiling, sighing heavily. Her tone became serious. "You know, this DeFelice thing isn't over yet. Today is going to be a long day."_

"_Yeah," said Shawn, also looking at the ceiling. His head turned towards Juliet and met her gaze. His thumb stroked her lips suggestively. "At least we have something to look forward to at the end of it…I mean aside from the nightly reading of _Goodnight Moon_ and_ The Giving Tree._"_

_Juliet laughed out loud. _

"_What? Are you telling me you don't read those every night?! Come on, Jules. They are classics."_

"_Not since I was five, Shawn," she giggled._

"_Well you should really consider adding them back to your nightly reading list. They really put life into perspective."_

"_Mmm-Hmm. I'll think about it. In the meantime, I have to track down and arrest a murderer," Juliet said starting to get out of bed._

_Shawn, hadn't moved yet. "Jules?" he questioned suddenly sounding a bit nervous._

"_Yes?"_

"_Would you like to go to dinner with me Friday night?"_

_Juliet's smile spread ear-to-ear and she leaned over to kiss Shawn. "I'd love to," she said._

* * *

JUNE 2015, AGAIN

They never did make it to that dinner. It was later that day that the DeFelice case took a turn for the worse and Shawn was faced with a very difficult, and _urgent_, decision. He hadn't seen or heard from Juliet or anyone in Santa Barbara since that day. Of course, they all believed he was dead, so he never expected to hear anything. That was the point….cut off all ties and no one gets hurt.

Now he sat outside of Wollman Skating Rink during his lunch break, hoping that Jules had seen and decoded his message.

* * *

Eight rides on the carousel and a run through the playground had proven to wipe Gracie out much quicker than expected. She had passed out by noon, her plush Pineapple hugged against her tiny body. Declan drifted off shortly after on the opposite side of the bed. Juliet sat in the corner, staring out of the window to the ant-sized cars below, unable to sleep a wink. Her mind was reeling from what she had seen just a few hours ago. Shawn was alive. Alive! Her most impossible prayer had been answered. But, now she had to wonder…if he was alive all this time, where had he been?"

She looked at the sloppy note written on the receipt again. She recognized the code names as referring to her and Shawn's identities during the roller derby case, but couldn't make heads or tails of the rest of the message. It wasn't until she pulled out the Central Park map that she had picked up that morning and saw depicted only a stone's throw from Friedsam Carousel the Wollman Skating Rink. Suddenly, it all clicked! He wanted her to meet him at Wollman. From there, she figured the number must refer to a time and quickly jumped to military time. 1300 hours was 1:00 PM.

_Damn! It was already past 12:30._

As quickly and quietly as possible, she left a note on the coffee table:

"_Couldn't sleep. Went for a walk."_

She snuck out of the hotel suite without rousing her companions and made her way to Wollman Skating Rink. It was almost 1:00 when she made it there and she wandered around the area until a quarter after, disappointedly seeing no sign of Shawn. Wondering whether she had misinterpreted the message, she was about to leave, when a strong hand firmly gripped her arm and pulled her into a pitch black room. She struggled against the man, nearly pulling out her weapon until she recognized a familiar soothing voice.

"Shhh. Jules, it's ok. It's just me. Just give me a sec here until I find the light." She stopped struggling and felt the hands loosen their grip and disappear. Seconds later, a light flickered on and illuminated her and Shawn's figures within some sort of small windowless store room. A quick glance around and she realized that it was a room where Shawn stored supplies for the _Wild Dog-up_ cart.

At first they stood and just stared at each other, neither sure of where to begin, until finally Shawn decided to start.

"Jules…" he said before trailing off and getting lost in her eyes.

"Shawn?" Juliet whimpered, now feeling no pressure to hold in her tears since no one else was around. She was feeling so many things at the same time, she couldn't decide from there what to say or do next. Impulsively, she leapt forward and crashed her body and lips into his.

That exhilarating feeling that they had experienced only that one night five years ago returned, and they quickly got caught up in the simple action, forgetting that an entire city-full of people lay just outside the heavy metal door.

They kissed frantically for almost a full minute before Juliet pulled away and reverted to slapping Shawn repeatedly and spouting off angry incomplete expletives. "Dammit, Shawn! How could you - ?! Where?!...You..left..me!...Why?!"

"What the hell, Jules?" said Shawn, cowering under her swings. "That hurts."

"That hurts?...That hurts?!" Juliet exclaimed disbelievingly. "You wanna know what hurts, Shawn Spencer?!"

"Shhh," hissed Shawn at the sound of his proper name. "Not too loud, Jules. Someone might hear us."

She ignored him. "You wanna know what hurts?! Watching a building explode with you inside, Shawn! That hurts! Going to your funeral without even a body to bury! That hurts, Shawn! Not being able to go to that dinner you promised me and then finding out that I…I was…" she chose not to finish that sentence. Juliet sobbed openly, tears pouring down her cheeks. She wasn't normally one to cry in front of people, but she had never felt such an intense and confusing mix of emotions before. "You left me alone, Shawn! You left me so you could gallivant around the Big Apple on a Weinermobile!"

"Technically, it's a Wild Dog cart…" he corrected feebly, "…and I wouldn't say gallivant. It pretty much sits in one place all day." He knew there wasn't anything real he could say to her until she had a chance to finish her rant.

"How could you do that to me?!" The rest of her rant was uninterpretable though her sobs. When she was finally done yelling, she sunk into Shawn's embrace, calming at his touch despite her anger towards him.

Shawn kissed her softly on her temple and soothingly stroked her hair until he felt she had calmed enough for him to speak. "I'm sorry, Jules. But believe me, I never wanted to leave you. I wanted to stay more than anything. You and I…we were just beginning. I wanted to see where life was going to take us. But…I couldn't. If I had stayed, Jules, neither of us would even have a life to live."

Juliet's red face popped up to look at Shawn curiously.

"I was in danger, and by association you were too. I was stupid again, Jules. I went somewhere I shouldn't have gone. I witnessed something I shouldn't have seen and angered a man I shouldn't have messed with. That's why I had to fake my death. I didn't want to do it, and if it was only about my own safety, I definitely wouldn't have. But it was about you, and Gus, and my Dad, and Lassie, and everyone else who knew me. In order to keep all of us safe…this man…a very powerful, dangerous man, I might add, needed to believe that his secret had went to the grave with me. If he even suspects that it hasn't…he won't hesitate to torture and kill anyone who might possibly know something about it. That's why, for their own safety, everyone else I knew had to believe I was dead too."

All the while, Juliet had been listening intently, her expression blank. Shawn couldn't tell even remotely how she was taking all of this.

"It ripped my heart to shreds to cut off all ties with everyone I loved, but if becoming a completely different person was the only way to keep them safe…then, so be it."

After several tense seconds, Juliet finally choked out a few words. "So, what now?"

"Now…I go back to being Luke Jones and you go back to your life and never speak a word of this to anybody."

Even before he had finished his sentence, Juliet had begun to shake her head. "No! No, Shawn. I can't do that," she spoke, eyes wide. "Now that I know you're alive, I need you."

"You have to, Jules," Shawn argued. "It's for your own safety. Besides, I saw you with that man and your child. You have a family now."

"Declan's not…he's just my boyfriend Shawn. I'm not married to him or anything. I'm not sure if I'm ever going to want to marry him."

"The kid is yours though. You can't deny that."

"Yeah, but –"

"The point is, you have a life now. I made sure that you'd live long enough to have that, and now you don't need me anymore. Your little girl needs you." As much as it hurt to essentially give Juliet away a second time, he could at least rest easy now that he knew that she had people to share in her life.

"No, Shawn," she said, yet without the impression of being argumentative. "You don't understand. There's something you don't know…."

* * *

_July 28, 2010_

_Juliet paced anxiously on Henry Spencer's front porch, and knocked again. This whole situation…everything about it…was awkward. Mr. Spencer was little more than an acquaintance to her. He was the father of her late colleague and almost boyfriend. She had only seen him in passing every once in a while, and hadn't seen him at all since the funeral. She couldn't really say she knew him well. But he needed to know, and part of her thought that he might even be happy to know and could turn out to be a source of support._

_She had almost chickened out and left, when the door finally opened and she stood there like a deer caught in headlights. _

"_Detective O'Hara," the old man greeted with a certain unexpectedness. "What can I do for you?"_

"_Can…can I come in?" Henry's brow furrowed at the obvious shakiness in the young woman's voice and wringing of her hands._

"_Of course, detective," said Henry stepping aside to let her in. "Is everything ok?" he asked, concerned._

_She didn't answer, but just walked in, stopping halfway across the room and turning around sharply. "Can we just…sit down and talk for a minute?"_

"_Sure," said Henry, the woman's very obvious anxiety spreading to his own psyche. "Take a seat," he said gesturing towards the couch. "Can I get you a drink of something?"_

"_Uh…water. Water would be nice. Thanks, Mr. Spencer."_

_While Henry went to retrieve a glass, Juliet took her seat on the couch, leaning her crossed arms on her lap to stop her legs from bouncing violently. He returned quickly with ice cold glasses for each of them and sat on the other end of the couch facing her. "So, what did you want to talk about?"_

_If Henry had to fathom a guess, he might have thought she had come for advice on a case or to inquire about one of his own past cases. He would never have guessed she would say the next thing that came out of her mouth. _

"_I'm pregnant."_

_Henry choked and sputtered on his water._

"_What? Whoa," he said holding up his hands defensively and speaking as if Juliet might have suffered some sort of brain-damaging blow to the head. "You know, you and I never…"_

"_No!" jumped Juliet, quick to fix the misunderstanding. "Not you! God, no!"_

"_Well then, detective, I have to ask…why are you coming to me about this?"_

_Juliet took a breath and answered, "Because you're the grandfather. It's Shawn's."_

_Henry's jaw dropped and his eyes widened almost comically so. His expression would be a nearly identical match to the one on his son's face when he received the news five years from now._

* * *

2015, STILL IN THE STORAGE ROOM

"You don't understand, Shawn. There's something you don't know."

Shawn's head cocked curiously to the side as Juliet quietly took a photograph of her daughter from her wallet and handed it to Shawn. Shawn took a good look at the picture. He noticed that the little girl, who was the spitting image of Juliet, was posed in that unnatural way that could only be achieved in a school photo. He noted that it resembled almost any of Shawn's old school photos, minus the multicolored lasers in the backdrop. He focused more intently on the girl's features and noticed another resemblance aside from that of Juliet….his mom. His eyes rose swiftly to meet Juliet's and she immediately saw realization forming in his mind.

"Look at the back," she said.

"Shawn flipped over the picture and read the back.

"_Grace Madeline Spencer, Age 4"_

"She has my name," he gasped. "And my Mom's." His mind was slowly but surely getting the idea. Juliet remained patient with him, remembering the shock at discovering that she was pregnant.

"That's because she's yours Shawn. Gracie is your daughter…our daughter. She has me, but she needs her father too.

And there was that comical look that she had seen five years ago on his father's face.

* * *

**:) I hope you like it so far. Please Review!**


	9. Luke Jones, Part 3

**Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! I knew you'd like it. Now, will Shules be strong enough to fight the deadly forces that are keeping them apart and Shawn from knowing his daughter? You gotta read on to find out. This chapter is mostly back story, but next will be more suspenseful.**

* * *

_JULY 20, 2010_

"_You ok, O'Hara?" asked Lassiter, trying as hard as he could not to sound insensitive. Ever since Spencer's funeral, she had been annoyingly less tolerant of him than usual, tending to snap at him, or sulk, or walk away angrily when he would say things that she normally would just let roll off her shoulder. _

"_Please, Carlton. Stop asking me that," Juliet begged. "I'm fine." She didn't look fine, though. She looked as if she hadn't slept in days. It was the middle of summer, so she should have had a healthy tan, but lately her skin had started looking so pale that he was afraid for the interior of his Ford Fusion. In fact, Lassiter was sure he heard his partner hacking through the ladies room door that morning. _

_The Chief kept saying to give her more time, but to him it seemed time was making her condition worse. Lassiter knew that she and the fake psychic – yes, he was sure he was a fake now – had been friends and that she missed him. And although Lassiter, himself (though he'd never admit it out loud) might actually sort of kind of wonder what it would be like if Spencer was still alive…not that he necessarily wanted him coming down to the station every now and then to push…no, lightly tap…a case in the right direction like he generally would successfully do about… (cough) 5% of the time, he couldn't fathom why Juliet's grief had gotten so bad to the point of making herself ill… _

"_Well you better be ok, because I am going to need you _all _there when we…"_

…_unless… _

_Shit! "Dammit O'Hara! You and Spencer were dating."_

"_What?" The accusation seemed to come out of nowhere to Juliet, who was unaware of his previous thought process._

_Lassiter knew that they had some sort of flirtatious thing going on for a long time, but considering that they hadn't appeared to couple up after four full years, he figured it wasn't anything more than that. But, maybe he was wrong. "You and Spencer, before he died…" Lassiter said almost angrily. "There was something going on between you two…I mean aside from all of the _'innocent' _trifling and dilly dallying he used to get you caught up in. You were sleeping with him! Why else would you still be all weepy four weeks after his death?"_

_Lassiter stopped yelling when Juliet just sat there, her eyes welling up with tears. He hadn't expected that she wouldn't immediate retort with a defensive answer. What he saw was the complete opposite reaction. "Yes! Ok, yes!" Her answer came out in sorrowful sobs the likes of which Lassiter had never heard from any woman, let alone Juliet. "There was more than _'innocent,'_" she mocked, "flirting between Shawn and me. But we weren't 'sleeping together.'" She spat out the term to indicate her disgust at the insinuation that it was only meaningless sex. "We loved each other, and we _made love _to each other…but we were only together one time before he…he died." She still had trouble saying the word. It was so final. "So, yes! I miss him. Does that make you happy?"_

_Lassiter sat agape. He had been unprepared for such an emotion-filled tirade from his partner. "Yes?" he said unsure of what was the right thing to say to such a question. Apparently it was the wrong thing to say, based on the slap he swiftly received. "I mean…no…I mean…'happy's' not the word." He shut his mouth and focused on the drive. Juliet did likewise. She seemed to be working extra hard to calm herself and keep from crying than she had been in recent weeks. _

_They rode in silence for a few minutes until they arrived at their destination, a non-descript office building on the outside, but the headquarters of a prominent advertising company inside. They were here to interview some of the staff about a murder of one of their colleagues._

"_Are you ok…" started Lassiter until a glare from Juliet caused him to immediately change what he was saying. "Are you…_ready_…to go inside?"_

_She nodded, got out of the car, and walked alongside her partner to the front entrance of the building. They hadn't made it far up the building's front stairs though, when suddenly she fell out of pace with him and dropped to her knees. She gripped the railing as a futile attempt to keep herself from falling. Her eyes rolled back into her head and Lassiter caught her limp body before it could fall onto the concrete stairs in front of her_

* * *

_The last thing she remembered was suddenly feeling a rush of heat through her body, a cold sweat, and dizziness, before her vision went black. She woke up to the blinding whiteness of the emergency room. Presently, she was sitting in a room of light blue curtain walls, a regular beeping keeping track of her heartbeat, and a fluid-filled bag draining into her arm._

_She noticed Lassiter dozed off in the seat to the side of her small room. Almost immediately as she spotted him, he roused at the entrance of a nurse, followed by Karen Vick through one of the curtains. _

"_Oh good, Miss O'Hara. You're awake," said the nurse, as she got to checking the monitor and IV. "My name is Jody. I've been taking care of you for the last…oh" – she look at her watch – "30 minutes."_

"_30 minutes? I was only out for 30 minutes?" It felt like she had just woken up from a week-long sleep._

"_Closer to 35, when you consider the time it took your partner to get you here." _

_Lassiter threw the magazine that he had been reading before dozing off onto the chair as he stood up._

"_Oh Carlton, you _didn't_ use the siren…?" Juliet groaned, to which Lassiter shrugged guiltily._

_The Chief stepped closer into the room and coughed to announce her presence which her subordinates had yet to acknowledge. "O'Hara, good to see you alert. How are you feeling?"_

"_Hi Chief," she answered. "I guess a little weak, but mostly normal now…I think."_

"_What happened?" Karen asked, directing her question towards Lassiter as if he should have some sort of control over the conscious state of his mentee._

"_We were just getting to Horizon Ads when she just…collapsed." His answer was about as true as it could get, though it was clear from her blank stare that Karen had been expecting more of an answer than that._

_Jody explained further. "Oh, Miss O'Hara just had a little hypoglycemic episode. Low blood sugar is quite common during the early stages of pregnancy. Nothing to be alarmed about._

"_What?!" demanded all three officers in unison. Jody laughed uncomfortably._

_Both Karen and Lassiter looked to Juliet as if she could provide some clarification, but she appeared to be just as surprised as they were._

"_I…I'm sorry. What did you say?" Juliet asked Jody. Her heart rate began to speed up as was noticeable to everyone by the rapid beeping of the monitor, and her skin quickly paled._

"_Damn! I have to learn to stop doing that," said Jody to herself before addressing her patient. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you didn't know."_

"_Know what?" Juliet asked as if she were interrogating her nurse. It made Jody nervous._

"_That…that you're expecting." There was a long pause during which Jody's heart rate might have sounded as fast as Juliet's, if only she were hooked up to a monitor too._

"_Expecting what?" Juliet swallowed, preparing herself for the answer._

"_A baby…Miss O'Hara. It's…it's here in your bloodwork." She pointed to the data on her clipboard. "I shouldn't have assumed that you already knew. I'm sorry. But, you are definitely pregnant."_

_She was stunned and speechless at first. She couldn't deny that pregnancy was a likely explanation for some of her recent symptoms, but she had just assumed that all of the tiredness, and nausea, and changes in appetite had been due to grief and stress. The idea that she might be pregnant never crossed her mind._

"_O'Hara?" Karen questioned. Whether in disbelief or to see if Juliet was ok, it wasn't clear._

"_Oh God!" Lassiter exclaimed. "You pro-created with Spencer!"_

_Karen looked to Lassiter and then back to Juliet. She had guessed that there had been a relationship between her consultant and her junior detective, but Lassiter's statement confirmed it. And now, Shawn Spencer was gone. Juliet was on her own with this. Seeing Juliet starting to become emotional, she ordered Carlton away and Jody took the liberty to announce that she'd step outside for a moment._

_Juliet felt Karen's palm on her back as the tears began to flow freely. _

_She was scared out of her mind. "No. No. I can't do this. Not on my own." _

_She was sad for the loss of her lover and her baby's father. "He's gone!" _

_And she felt a tremendous love for her last living connection to Shawn, a love that she couldn't even put into words. So she just cried. _

_That night, she visited Shawn's headstone, where she had been a few times since his death. She always felt silly talking to that stone, under which no remains lay…only a piece of the building which had enveloped him in his final moments. She doubted he was even listening, but she had to tell him somehow._

"_We're having a baby, Shawn."_

_She never imagined that one day she'd be telling him about their child to his face._

* * *

2015

Unable to take his eyes off of the little girl on the photo, and feeling his legs weaken, Shawn stepped backwards until his heels found the stack of large bags full of potato flakes and he sat down. Juliet followed him across the room and sat down next to him.

"We have a daughter, Jules…" he said as his fingers stroked the image. "She's so beautiful!"

Juliet nodded and smiled. She felt oddly as she had when she brought an art project home from school as a child and her mother had gushed over how pretty it was. But somehow it was different than that too. Shawn was her father. He'd had a hand in creating Gracie too.

"You have to meet her, Shawn. She's so smart, and thoughtful, and…and hyper-observant…just like her Daddy."

Shawn's head whipped up swiftly. "Did you say 'hyper-observant', Jules?" Immediately he guessed that she knew the truth.

"I _know_," she said to confirm his suspicions. "Your Dad told me. He thought I should know the truth about my baby's father…maybe he didn't want me thinking I'd be giving birth to a psychic child." Juliet chuckled at how absurd that idea sounded now, although the thought had honestly crossed her mind a time or two before that fateful conversation.

"Oh…" Shawn's mouth hung open. He was surprised she wasn't furious with him. Although…it _had _been five years. That seemed like it should be enough time to get over it. But then, he doubted there was any typical expectation for one to get over the news that one's dead baby-daddy wasn't a psychic. "Weren't you disappointed?" he asked.

"Oh, I was pissed!" she said honestly. "But, to be honest, I always had my doubts, and…as time passed, I realized that what you could actually do was way more impressive that what you were claiming to do…and sexier, she added with a cute wrinkle of her nose that made Shawn want to kiss her again. He refrained this time, remembering that she had a boyfriend now.

"I can't believe it. All of this time, and I didn't even know I was a father…" Shawn paused and appeared to be contemplating something before shaking his head. "No… No, I'm not her father, Jules."

"Shawn, what are talking about!" squealed Juliet, swiftly becoming upset. "She's yours. I wouldn't lie about that!" Her angry and terrified glare switched to confusion as she noticed that Shawn was laughing.

He put a comforting hand on Juliet's thigh. "No, Jules. You misunderstand me. I mean, obviously she's mine. She's got my devilish grin and my Mom's cheekbones. And…ah, look at that, she's got that lower tooth that turns just slightly to right, just like my Dad's. She even has Gus's perfectly symmetrical clavicles."

Juliet's face contorted into even more confusion. "Gus's _what?_"

"What I mean…Jules…is that I don't deserve to be called Gracie's father. I missed _everything._" Juliet frowned sympathetically. "I wasn't there to hold you when you found out she was on the way. I missed her birth – I don't even know when her birthday is – and her first words, and her first steps. I didn't get to help you name her. I suppose you had a reason for naming her Grace, but I don't know what that is. She doesn't even know me. She wouldn't be able to pick out her own father from a line-up!"

Shawn would have continued to relentlessly name other things that he had missed in Gracie's life, except that Juliet rested her finger on his lips. "Shh. Shawn, first of all, she's only 4-years-old. You haven't missed _everything._"

Shawn began to argue but Juliet shushed him further. "Secondly…setting aside any possible reason for why you'd end up in a line-up, Gracie _does_ know you. Sure, she hasn't met you in person, but do you really think I wouldn't make sure she knew who her Daddy was? God! Between me, and your parents, and Gus she's seen so many pictures and heard so many stories… You are like some sort of mythical hero to her, Shawn. Ha! She even told me she couldn't wait to die, so she could finally meet you….I can't say that one didn't make me a little nervous…"

"I bet she says a lot of silly things," Shawn guessed.

"All the time!" said Juliet with a hint that that particular trait could be just as frustrating sometimes as it was amusing.

Shawn grinned proudly. "No surprise there. Comedic wit runs in the family, you know…somehow missed my Dad, though..."

"Finally, her birthday is March 7, 2011 and her name is Grace because…well, I thought you were dead. We were only together one time…the night before you…well, the night before _I thought _you died. If I hadn't come to see you that night, we would have missed our chance. So, I guess I thought that… through the Grace of God, we didn't miss our last chance. And Gracie was evidence of that."

"Hmm. I guess I kinda ruined that sentiment by actually being alive, huh?"

Juliet chuckled a little. "Not exactly, Shawn. Now we are just being given another chance that we didn't expect."

"Another chance?" Shawn questioned, looking at Juliet in some sort of shocked curiosity. "You weren't planning on trying to make another baby just now…" Shawn's voice fluttered nervously. "…because a room full of frozen hot dogs and a bed of potato flakes is not exactly the most romantic…"

"No, Shawn!" said Juliet, slapping him in a both serious and playful manner. "And for the record, Gracie was conceived in a laundromat!"

"Dry cleaners," Shawn corrected. "_Former _dry cleaners, a place where things were made to be clean and fluffy and smell nice. You know, just like the _actual bed _we were on. And if I remember correctly, it smelled 'Mountain Fresh,' or at least that was what my fabric softener was called, and you smelled like peaches…and honey…" Shawn slowed as he stared into Juliet's blues and began to feel almost as if he was back there, with her in his apartment that night.

"You smelled like pineapple and Axe body spray," giggled Juliet, unaware of how close to him she was allowing herself to get. "And maybe…there was a hint of…coconut…and ocean salt…"

Their lips were almost touching when as quick as a crashing wave, Juliet brought herself back to reality and pulled away. Both she and Shawn coughed nervously.

"Umm…I'm sorry…" said Shawn, at first apologizing for almost getting carried away and then finding himself apologizing for everything. "I'm sorry I lied about being a psychic, I'm sorry I was a jerk and didn't listen to you and Lassie that day. I'm sorry I got myself into trouble and endangered your life, and I'm sorry I faked my death and left you alone with our daughter. You must have been so scared…"

Juliet shook her head and nodded at the same time. She really didn't want to tell Shawn how scared she had been…

* * *

_MARCH 7, 2011_

_She awoke to a sharp pain in her abdomen. She had been interrupted mid-dream and took a moment to process that she was lying in her bed in her apartment. By the time she figured that much out, she realized that she had been crying out in pain, and tried her best to remember the breathing techniques that she had learned in the three partial Lamaze classes she attended. She cursed herself for failing to attend all eight sessions, but going with either Carlton or Gus had proven to be way too awkward for her liking, each for different reasons, and going alone was just too depressing. She had left early all three times._

_When the pain finally subsided, she pulled herself into a sitting position and noticed a wetness beneath her. "Oh God…" she said to herself, realizing she had to get to the hospital quickly. She looked at the clock, which read 2:46 AM, and then around her empty room. She never felt more helpless and alone than she did that moment. If only the baby had waited four more days like it was supposed to, or even just another 8 hours for that matter, her Mom would already be here to take her to the hospital. With the amount of pain she had just been in, she sure as hell knew it wasn't a good idea to drive herself to the hospital._

_She eyed her phone, which sat on her dresser on the other side of the room, though right now it seemed like there might have been a mile between the phone and herself. At a snail's pace, she threw off her covers and cradled her swollen stomach as she got up and walked towards her dresser. Finally, picking up her phone, she realized she didn't know who to call. She thought of Gus first, but then remembering how he tended to pass out in the presence of bodily fluids and that Carlton was the one with a siren and pursuit driving training, she settled on her partner. She'd just have to make sure he knew to steer clear of the delivery room when they got there._

_As she waited for Carlton to pick up, another contraction struck her suddenly and she sunk into a sitting position, her back against the wall. The first thing Carlton heard on the other end of his line was a scream of pain. _

"_O'Hara?! Is that you? " he demanded._

"_Aaah… Yes, C..Carlton. I need…you to…take me…to the hospital. Aaaaarrgh!"_

"_Right now?"_

"_No, Carlton. Next Tuesday." Seriously? Did he not get that this is urgent? "YES, NOW!" _

_Looking back on it, the 10 minute wait for Carlton to arrive were the scariest moments that she could remember from that morning. For those 10 minutes, she was completely alone. No one was there to help her, or God forbid, save her life or her baby's if something terrible happened. She decided to use that time calling her doctor, texting Gus and Henry, and then calling her Mom, who was waiting to board her flight from Miami. Maryanne still would have to catch a connecting flight through Houston. It seemed unlikely that she would make it to the hospital in time for the delivery, especially considering how quickly the labor seemed to be progressing already. At the very least Juliet allowed her mother's familiar voice and encouraging words to soothe her while she waited. _

_Much of the next hour or two was a blur. Carlton weaved through traffic and got her to the hospital in no time. Then there were doctors and nurses in green scrubs all about, and bright lights, and needle pricks, and _pain…_a lot of pain. She vaguely remembered being told that it was too late for an epidural and begging for Carlton to stay by her side, even though she had previously insisted that he shouldn't be there. He was there with her, along with the doctor and a nurse, encouraging her to "push" and "bear down" and reminding her that she was "doing great." Even after she heard that cry that shook her to the core, and they announced that she had a little girl, there was still a flurry of activity about the room until some time later._

_It wasn't until she was finally alone in her room, holding her newborn daughter that everything slowed down again. Gracie was the most gorgeous little thing she had ever seen and she couldn't believe how much and how immediately she fell in love with her. She loved everything about her…her precious blue eyes that looked up at her so innocently…her iddy biddy fingers that stretched in odd directions as she tried to move her arms…her tiny button nose and the blonde tuft of hair on the top of her head. Most of all she loved how much she looked like her Daddy, even if no one else claimed to see it._

_It was one of the most joyful moments of her life thus far, but at the same time it was the most terrifying. Gracie was this tiny, fragile, extremely impressionable little thing, and it was solely her own – Juliet O'Hara's – responsibility to make sure she became an adult that her father would be proud of. It seemed like so much to ask of one person. But despite her fear, Juliet took it on happily and did the best she could. _

* * *

2015, DECLAN AND JULIET'S HOTEL ROOM

"_Maniac meets Fanboy at Wollman, 13:00"_

Declan deciphered the nearly unintelligible handwriting on the small piece of paper that appeared to have been dropped haphazardly on the floor of the hotel room just paces from where Juliet had left a note that she was going out. Turning over the paper, he saw the name of the hot dog cart from that morning printed on the top.

The message made absolutely no sense, at least not to him. He guessed that it made some sense to Juliet since she had been acting strangely ever since returning from the hot dog cart. He knew the handwriting wasn't hers. Someone else had written it, which left one of the two employees who had been working the cart. What could either of them want with her?

Of course, Juliet occasionally worked on undercover missions, and she didn't always tell him what she was up to. Most of the time she couldn't tell him. But this was different. They were on vacation. She had no jurisdiction in New York, and he doubted she knew any law officials there who would have asked for help from her. Not to mention that undercover missions didn't normally cause her to become quiet and pensive, like she had been all morning.

Declan knew that their relationship had been on rocky ground ever since Juliet turned down his marriage proposal, but things seemed to be getting back on track recently, especially since they had been on their current vacation. She couldn't really be cheating on him…meeting someone behind his back. Could she? He didn't think she was the cheating type.

He looked at the bed behind him when Gracie let out a few soft moans and a yawn that were characteristic of any small child awakening from a long nap. The little girl scanned the room with her piercing eyes and then landed them on her mother's boyfriend.

"Where did Momma go?" she asked.

"She went for a walk, Pumpkin. She'll be back soon."

"I know THAT!" said Gracie as if she had just been called stupid and she pointed to the note on the coffee table.

"You can read that?" Declan's eyebrows lifted, impressed at the 4-year-old's apparent ability to read. He'd been dating her mother for over two years and somehow had managed to miss that she knew her alphabet, let alone that she could read. _"4-year-olds don't read… Do they?"_ he thought.

Gracie got down from the bed and stood akimbo. "W-A-L-K spells walk. Plus, Momma's purse and shoes are missing. I want to know where Momma walked TO."

"I don't know that, Pumpkin. I don't know where she went." He was going to find out though. She was up to something, and he was going to find out what it was.

* * *

**Wow! I stayed up really late to finish this. I'm posting in the morning so I could check for mistakes first. I tend to make a lot of them when I get to the point of being giddily tired, which is ironically when I do some of my best work. Anywho, I'm excited for reviews so send them my way!**


	10. Shules Twins Baby Poll

**Shules Baby Poll**

Hi Readers! I have a question for you.

I know you were all waiting patiently for a story update, so sorry to disappoint. But I'm asking you to do something even better than reading one of my stories, and that is helping me to write one of my stories. You see, I've been working on SAN FRANCISCO and I am stuck. I've gone back and forth and to and fro and over and out, and I just can't make up my mind what sexes the twins should be. So please go to my profile and participate in my poll to help me decide.

I should say that IF I decided to write some future fics in the SAN FRANCISCO universe, I imagine Shules having a third child a few years down the road and that Gus (and whoever his significant other is) will have a child of the same sex and similar age to this child. If Shules has twin girls now, their younger child (and Gus's) will be a boy. If they have twin boys the younger will be a girl. And if the twins are both sexes, the younger sex could be either...to be decided later...but I'm leaning towards boy right now.

Thanks for your help and for reading my stories! Oh, and if you have any specific "scenes" you'd like to see in my stories, leave me a review or a PM! It might help speed up the writing process and I'll give you a shout out in my story comments!


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